Capta
by Fighter1357
Summary: Latin word for taken. Robin was kidnapped, taken when a bomb exploded at Cadmus. Seven months later, there has been no news. The team is given a new mission to Northern California, Tempus Labs. What they find there certainly isn't what they expected... De-aging fic.
1. Prolouge: Explosion

**Prolouge:**

* * *

"You ready?" Kid Flash asked the boy wonder, turning toward him in the Bio-ship. Robin grinned at the red head, his masked eyes were twinkling with mischief and humor. "Man, I was born ready." They both grinned and then turned back toward the front.

The team was headed out on a mission to observe, enter, disarm and leave. Apparently a bomb was at the old Cadmus sight and, while the league knew about it, it was most likely the scientists didn't. So, they had to get them out while Robin disarmed the bomb. Superboy hadn't been to prone to go but they needed his help, especially if they were going to navigate the halls.

Initially, it had jest been a simple 'go-report-come-back' type of mission but since the bomb was there that would be hard. Batman had located the bomb when he had pulled up a video feed of Cadmus. No one was in the room, and it didn't seem that cameras and video-feed was online, most likely causing mass panic within the facility. So, Batman decided to let the team go and get everyone out and disarm the bomb. From the video feed, which wasn't very good, he could tell that it could blow up two whole city blocks- not good.

Artemis rolled her eyes at the two boys and frowned. "You guys are so stupid." Robin, honestly not caring what she said, replied with nothing but Wally, itching for a fight with the blonde, stuck his tongue out at her and made a stupid face; completely underlining her point. She stuck his tongue out at him as well and they kept exchanging this until they heard Rocket ask Zatanna a question.

"Are they always like this?"

"Yeah."

"Really?" Rocket's voice conveyed disbelief.

"Yeah."

Wally glanced at the two other girls and then at Artemis, who had promptly done the same. The ride was silent as they approached the destination. Aqualad looked up, his silver eyes stern and ready. He turned to face the team and they, having heard him clear his throat, turned to face him as well.

"Rocket and I will enter first, taking the first, second, third and fourth levels; telling people to move. Kid Flash and Artemis-"

The two groaned when their names were mentioned together.

"-will take fifth through tenth. M'gann and Connor eleventh through fourteenth. Robin will begin to locate the bomb. Understood?" Everyone nodded and turned back to the front, quiet and thinking up plans to go with. This wasn't a fighting mission but more of a search and rescue one.

Robin was formulating a plan in his mind. He decided to get Cadmus systems back online, which he figured was the reason they hadn't located or noticed anything wrong yet. He knew he had to be quick, not knowing how long the bomb was set for. What bothered him, was, however, why the bomb was there? Who had a bone to pick with Cadmus? Lex Luthor? Naw, bomb's weren't quite his thing… he kept silent. Joker's work was a bomb but he was in Arkham. Unless, of course, he got Harley Quinn to do it.

But, no. Someone just wanted to play a really, really not-so-funny joke or something was going on. And quite frankly, he wanted to know.

"Approaching Cadmus," M'gann said, stealing a quick glance at Connor who was simply ignoring everything around him. The Bio-Ship, in stealth mode, began to lose it altitude as M'gann lowered the ship down onto a nearby roof. They got up and slowly made their way out, eyes on the building as if it had radioactive bugs climbing all over it. "_Mind-link?" _M'gann asked in everyone's minds. Rocket almost doubled over but regained herself, sending a reassuring smile to the rest of the team.

Aqualad nodded and the link was step up. "_Everyone here?" _M'gann asked, looking from person to person.

_"Robin's in." _

_"Here." _

_"Always here for ya babe!" _

_"Shut up Baywatch and yeah, I'm here." _

_"Ready." _

_"Yep!" _

_"This is so weird!" _Rocket exclaimed, staring at everyone wide-eyed. Robin chuckled and walked over, slinging his arm around her shoulders. She looked at him weirdly but then shrugged. Zatanna eyed them but her shoulder relaxed, Robin was simply being nice. He had been like that to her… wait a sec… Had he merely just been nice because she was new? Or, was it something else? Zatanna had easily set up a block so no one could hear what she was thinking.

_"Everyone ready?" _Aqualad asked and everyone nodded.

_"GO!" _

* * *

**_To be continued..._**


	2. Chapter 1: The boy

**Thank you everyone who reviewed. Eleven reviews in the first chapter is awesome, so thanks. **

**Fudotwin17 is going to holding me to writing this story. I promished to update and as of right now, I solemly swear I will finish the story even if my creative juices abandon me, it will be finished and finshed to the bestof my ability. So, you guys gotta hold me to this. Just don't pressure me, now that you know I'll continue you can always expect and update. Now, on with the story! **

* * *

**Chapter 1: **

* * *

**Project Paradox:**

**Subject File: R00012J**

**Real name: Richard John 'Dick' Grayson**

**Alias: Robin ( Former protégé of Batman)**

**Age: 13 (Former)**

**Birthday: 3/21/98**

**Birth parents: Mary Joanna Grayson, John Henry Grayson**

**Notes: Orphaned at age 9, taken in by Bruce Wayne (a.k.a Batman), acrobat, messes with the english language; often called 'slaughtering it', refuses to be called side-kick, mathlete, the last Flying Grayson. **

**Profile:**

**Eye Color: Bright blue, almost azure-icy blue, cerulean **

**Hair Color: Ebony, black- onyx color**

**Skin: Pale, used to be tan**

**Height: 5'2 **

**Weight: 105.7**

**Needed for: Project Paradox **

**Project #: P8-12**

**Project Paradox: Perfect weapon**

**Apprehended: 5/9/12 **

**Room #: Sub-level B-16, Room # 267**

**Regular meals, showers and tests. **

* * *

The boy's eyes flew open.

The white painted cement ceiling greeted him as always. Just as he'd always known. He sat up and looked around, throwing the blankets off of him. More white painted cement. His steel framed bed was nailed into the floor, the white sheets and grey wool blanket were thrown to the side as he stepped over, placing his bare feet on the floor. He shivered as the floor's coldness ran up his legs and stood up, feeling a bit wary as he walked over to the door; waiting for the small slot in the bottom to give him food as always.

He didn't know what time it was, but it always appeared soon after he woke up. He sighed, staring at it; just simply waiting. It had never taken this long before. He looked down at his bandaged arms and the white scars that littered his arms, legs and face. He didn't know where he got them but the whitecoats told him he'd always been like that. The white scars from as long as he could remember stood out against his red-pink tinted skin. He didn't know where that came from either, but the whitecoats always shrugged it off; saying it would be gone soon.

They said that a few days ago.

Or, at least, he assumed it as a few days ago. He didn't know time here, time simply didn't exist here. It was irrelevant. You went to bed when the whitecoats told you, you ate when the whitecoats fed you, you did exactly as they said; or else you would go to the room at the end of that hall and never come back out. He'd seen it happen before. Another kid, much taller than him, had began a fight and was captured; being taken to the room. He never came out. The whitecoat did. But the boy wasn't scared, he was small; smaller than the others kids, but he seemed to have more bravery then them.

As far as the boy was concerned, he'd been here since forever. It was all he could remember. White cement, whitecoats, white clothing, tests in white rooms and no light. He'd never seen the sun, felt it's warmth against his skin, seen it shine in all it's glory. He'd asked the whitecoats this but they said he didn't need to, not yet at least. He could wait for that 'not yet' to be gone. He really wanted to see it. He knew what the sun was, what the moon was, what grass and trees were, what the sky was. He'd never seen it, never even felt it. Well, minus the grass. He would be taken a big chamber where grass grew. He would have to run, jump, do flips and practice all different types of things. Sometimes he ached, but he still had to practice. He didn't know what for, he was never told anything.

Sometimes he would be hurt if he slowed down for a rest. Sometimes he was praised with being allowed to walk the halls with an escort if he did well. But, even after walking around he figured it was useless. Everything was white, the steel grey doors seemed to blend in with the walls. Everything blending together. He didn't like it. He stood out, with his red-pink skin and white scars. He felt uncomfortable. Weird, odd, out of place.

Suddenly the slot opened and a plate with eggs and toast slid through and the slot closed again. He smiled to himself and scrambled over, grabbing the fork and sticking it in the scrambled eggs. They were gone within a matter of seconds and the toast a few seconds later. He sighed and then slipped the plate back toward the slot. It opened again and a hook came through, wrapping around the plate and pulling it back out again. The same thing every time.

The boy stood up now and looked over to his bed. He walked over and began to make it. He needed to looked presentable for the main whitecoat; Dr. Hinders. The man would come in and inspect the room. If food was on the ground, the boy would have to clean it, if the bed was not made he would have to make it over ten times, if his clothes were wrinkled he would have to do everything plus fold all the other clothing. His clothes were white shorts and t-shirt. They weren't baggy but weren't to tight. The were comfortable however. He stood by his bed and waited; hands behind his back and staring straight ahead. His blue eyes, cerculean, never wavered.

The door gave a hiss and slid open, the whitecoat walking in. He had brown tinning hair and a wispy mustache, he had on brown grey slacks and a white dress shirt under his white lab coat. A clip-board was under his arm and he stared down sternly at the boy.

"R00012J. Very good, I'm impressed. Keep this up and perhaps you can walk the halls with Dr. Barnes."

The boy, R00012J as he was called, stared straight ahead. He was not permitted to speak unless directly spoken to. He couldn't ask questions either, he was punished if he did. He had made that mistake one time and was forced to a horrible 'test' of pain. He never made that mistake again. Dr. Hinders chuckled and walked around, looking everything over.

"You seem presentable. No food on the ground, bed made perfectly. Very, very nice. R0, you may speak," he said, walking back in front of R0, his nickname, and smiling nicely. R0 knew it was simply a fake smile to reassure him of nothing but lies but he did trust this whitecoat, most of the others were horrible to him. R0 nodded, staring straight ahead.

"Thank you, sir. I tried my best, sir," he said, his voice small but strong. Dr. Hinders nodded and smiled down at him, ruffling the boys ebony hair. He had actually come to care for the boy, not that he would admit it. Not to much as loving him, he still lied to him, hurt him with pleasure. He even felt guilty, though it was small in quanity, when they put him through the pain processes. Project Paradox needed a good subject and this boy as the perfect one. The Dr. knew that this boy would grow up to be strong, strong than the bat. No, they were not giving him superpowers; it would kill him and they couldn't risk losing another subject. They were training him to his peek; his mind, his skills, his smarts. He could already calculate math problems that had stumped men before him for years in a matter of minutes, he could defeat Superman if he had to; not yet, however. When he was older he could do it without Kryptonite. He would be perfect, unable to figure out. He would be a paradox.

They needed to give him pain, however. To train him for what was to come. He had to experience the worst things one could possible imagine. The would stick him in a tank of water and see how long he could hold his breath. He began to drown most of the time, but they fetched him from it. The would electrify him until he was half dead. They out poke and prod him until he was bleeding out.

He needed it. It was for a good cause.

"I can see that R0. Yes, well. We need you today, another test. Ready?" The Dr. said, checking something off his clipboard without looking down.

"Yes sir. Are my scars going to be taken away?"

The Dr. looked up and nodded and he could see surprise and happiness in the boys eyes. He knew R0 didn't like the scars and the Dr. knew he felt out of place with them. The Dr. would chuckle to himself whenever he thought this. It was odd of the boy to feel out of place. This was where he'd thought he'd always lived. Yes, _thought_ he'd always lived. That wasn't true, he had been taken, changed; his mind altered. But, either way, one should not feel out of place at ones home. That wasn't how it worked.

"Come on. Follow me."

* * *

"Robin has been missing for five months!" Kid Flash exclaimed, glaring at Batman; who stood stoically in front of him. If anything, the Kid Flash looked livid and Batman looked simply bored. This was the fifteenth time that the speedster had pointed this out in the month. The eighty-eighth time since Robin disappeared. He really didn't need a reminder.

"This has been acknowledged, Kid Flash," Batman replied, glaring down at him with a Bat-glare. Of course this had been acknowledged. His protégé, his ward, his _son_ was gone and with no lead. There had been nothing when the bomb had exploded; and it hadn't even been an 'exploding' bomb. It had Zeta-beam technology and when it went 'boom' it had taken any living thing within ten to fifteen feet. And of course Robin, who had been trying to disable it, was caught in the crossfire. He was just gone. Nothing was left except a mask. So, whoever had him... knew of his identity.

The bomb had ripped the building apart (the second time the Cadmus building had been downed) but since the team had gotten everyone out, it didn't matter. The 'bomb' was destroyed so Batman couldn't inspect it. Even the remains were to crushed and mangled to even tell what one piece from another was.

"Then why don't you do something about it!" The red-head yelled, throwing his arms up in the air, exasperated. Batman's glare hardened and Kid Flash shifted uncomfortably. He _had _been doing something about. He was desperate to find his boy. He had asked Mary and John for forgiveness every night for this. Yes, he blamed himself for this. If he had never let Dick become Robin; then this wouldn't have happened. Of course, Dick would always come up with a counter-argument when he brought this up. He knew that now, Dick could never give up being Robin; just as he could never give up being Batman. They were one in the same.

"I _have _been doing something about it," he growled, turning away from the young boy. The team and Black Canary were watching with interest. KF and Batman had had this… conversation before. But it never lasted more than a minute. They all missed Robin, especially the league founders; who had known the boy since he had first become Robin. Wonder Woman was worried sick for her 'little boy' and often snapped at people. Batman was as silent and brooding as ever, perhaps even a bit more, and Superman was a bit more… displeased. The others tried to act normal, or as normal as they could.

"Really?" Kid Flash yelled, crossing his arms over his chest, "because it doesn't seem like it. Robin isn't here! Do you even care?"

Everyone froze and Kid Flash seemed to realize what he just said. His anger faded as the Dark Knight turned around, anger flowing from him like waves.

"I… I didn't mean-"

"Care? Do I care?" Batman growled and Kid Flash took a step back, fear rolling into his green eyes. "Of course I _care! _I'm worried sick! He is my son! I've been doing everything in my power! Don't you dare say I _don't care!_" The man turned on his heels and stalked away, his cape following behind him with a swoosh. Everyone stared after him and shock and surprise, even Canary was surprised.

The team had always thought that Batman was an uncle or a friend of Robin's parents or maybe he didn't know or have any connection to Robin at all, maybe his parents were crazy. They didn't know he was his…. his _son_. Batman said he was worried sick. They…. they felt bad instantly. They had thought Batman had merely shrugged it off or didn't care enough to look as hard as he could. But, if Batman couldn't find him… was there any hope left for the boy?

* * *

Dr. Hinders strapped the six year old to the medical table. The restraints were made of steel and were laced with kryptonite (for special reasons). R0 stared up at the ceiling in front of him, his blue eyes never wavering in thought. You could almost see straight into his soul… but yet not. As if they were clouded. He could never see what the boy was thinking.

Even so, the Dr. felt no guilt on strapping him to the white, sleek table. The white scars and red-pink tinted skin from burns were going to be gone for good. R0 would fit in now, even if he had never met anyone else but the whitecoats and a few other subjects. The boy waited patiently as the whitecoats prepared for it. He didn't like it most of the time, he felt odd; like he should fight back. But if he did he would get into trouble, R0 didn't want that.

Suddenly, the steel door flew open and a another whitecoat- female -walked in with a two more behind her. "We're taking over Project Paradox. Orders from Hemingsway," she stated, one hand on her hip and another tightly gripping her clipboard. She had black hair and eyes and her black skirt was tight against her skin. She wore black pointed shoes and a grey nice shirt under her white lab coat. Her nails were painted cherry red and her lips were the same color as well. Over all, she looked like a super-model gone smart.

Dr. Hinders narrowed his eyes.

"Prove it. Give identification please. And under whose orders? Hemingsway? He has no rule over Project Paradox," the man stated, stepping forward angrily. R0 watched with suspicious eyes. New whitecoats? He already didn't like these ones, he despised them and this group didn't seem to be any better. Probably even worse, he didn't want that. It would make things harder, he would probably be hurt more.

The lady handed him a slip of paper, a light smirk playing on her lips as she watched him read it, eyes widening. "Dr. Anders at your service, Jack. Hemingsway was moved up in the line. He has every right to replace you. He feels that this is weak… Project Paradox isn't going as planned. You're two months behind schedule and it seems you've developed feelings for the boy?" She pouted and shook her finger, finding this unacceptable.

"That isn't permitted. Take him away. Project Paradox is about to get going… for real."

* * *

R0 tried to ignore the pain as they coursed through his arms.

The electricity was killing him, the hurt was bad. The pain.

Oh the pain!

Every time he went back to sleep he felt as if he had been burned alive. But when he woke in the morning, however, he was fine. There were no burn marks on his skin, no bleeding from cuts he got- no white scratches. It was as if he had taken a bath that washed away all the dirt.

Dr. Anders was horrible. She was ruthless with the tests. He never got a chance, soon he became afraid; and soon that's all he could remember. Dr. Anders was all he ever knew. Dr. Hinders had been erased from his mind, the man's experiments had been _mild _compared to the things that Anders made him do. Electrocuted, drowned, cut, bruised, he had even fallen into a coma one time and successfully come out of it with little to no damage done to his brain. While in the comatose state, they had electrocuted him then too.

He had barely made it out.

Right now, as his vision became blurry and his body began to feel numb he was used to it. He was actually used to the pain. He still screamed in agony, in pain, in hurt. But it wasn't as bad as before. Even so, he was used to it.

Suddenly, the numb and pain faded and the ringing in his ears was gone. He heard Dr. Anders yelling at someone and she suddenly appear in front of him, scowling with displeasure. She waved her hand in front of his eyes, which stared straight ahead. He resisted, however, to whimper. She often hit him.

"Can you see me R00012J?" The Dr. asked, she refused to call him by his 'pet-name' as she called it, R0.

"Yes, Ma'am," he replied, his voice raspy from the pain he just experienced.

"Louder, R00012J," She demanded, her hand and face disappearing from his view. He blinked back tears from his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. He tried again and managed, "Yes."

"Ma'am, R00012J."

"Yes, Ma'am…" he continued before almost falling over in a fit of coughs. But he couldn't breath. He was restrained to the bed, and he couldnt lift his chest up to breath correctly; he was slowly suffocating. They would adjust the bed so it would stop, one time they forgot. He had been dead for two minutes. But his restraints were there for a reason. They had to be or else he would writhe in pain or try to run. He'd almost made it to the door a few times, but they sedated him.

"Ready? Last time, R00012J."

"Ready," he croaked, tears now falling freely.

* * *

**Review please. **

**Did I do well? **

**Notice anything different about Robin. I called him the boy... notice anything about his file. Read it over and perhaps you can figure out what it is. This is sure to have a twist, I can confirm that. Don't most of my stories? **

**Dedicated to: Fudotwin17**


	3. Chapter 2: Tempus Labs

**Thank you for all your very asterous and whelming reviews. :) **

**Now, I know I told a few people I wouldn't update till I have he third and fourth chapter ready... I don't. I was like, "Screw this, I'm updating." It'll be awhile, therefore, till I have the next one's ready. I'm finishing up Warp today, as well. **

**So, uh, yeah, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Consider this disclaimed. **

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

* * *

"Do…. do you think he's still alive?" Wally asked, looking to his right at the blonde haired, grey eyed girl next to him. She looked over in surprise, shocked that he, Wally West, had even dared to ask such a question. The boy the speedster was referring to was gone, missing. Wally's best friend. Caught in an explosion that had transported him to who knows where.

"Well, yeah. I do. Don't you?" Artemis replied, not knowing what his answer would be. Honestly, she was scared for his reply. Did he really lose hope and think hat he was dead? Could he really? They were all stressed out with worry over their youngest, he was only thirtteen, but he was the strongest. Get traught or get dead. M'gann looked up, having heard Wally ask the question and stared at him, awaiting his answer from Artemis. Connor and Kaldur both looked up as well and Zatanna looked away, tears in her eyes. Raquel put a comforting hand on girls shoulder. Wally looked away, eyebrows knit together in thought.

"I…. I don't know actually. I want to think he's still alive… but after seven months Artie? I'm just not sure. Batman didn't find anything except for traces of Zeta-beam technology where the bomb exploded. So, he was transported somewhere. But…. but where? Artie, he hasn't made any contact! There's been nothing for seven months! He just… up and disappeared! I don't know what to think! Is he dead? Alive? Is he alright? I don't know!"

Wally's head fell into his hands as he trembled with uncertainty. Artemis stared at him and sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. And then pulling him into a hug. No, she didn't feel awkward about it or weird. It was the right thing to do. He sighed and buried his face in his hands, shaking and trembling.

They hadn't found a lead, Batman hadn't found a lead, the league hadn't found a lead. There really was simply nothing. Not a trace. Even the old Cadmus building didn't have an answer for everything. Well, the only trace was that Zeta-beam energy Batman had found as the site. So, they knew he didn't explode; he was transported somewhere.

Where?

That was the question though. Where? Why? Who wanted their little brother, the son of a man who needed him. Obviously, it wasn't Cadmus that needed him. They wouldn't plant a bomb in their own building and then let everything, every piece of research, get destroyed. No, it wasn't them. So Who? Why? Where?

It wasn't a ransom- that would have popped up by now. They didn't know. Maybe it was to slow Batman down? Well, that hadn't worked. His loss for the boy was so bad that most Gotham villains wanted to stay in Arkham when he put them there, his brooding attitude one of pure menace, fury, terror. Only The Joker and Two Face escaped to get a go at him, but they ended up their almost two days later. The Joker had been back within a few hours one night.

It was bad.

Very simply put.

"It's fine Wally… you can't lose hope," Zatanna suddenly said, lifting her head up after wiping tears from her eyes. "We have to think that…. that Robin is alive. He can't be dead…. he's to strong," she whispered the last part to herself, almost seeming to reassure herself as she said it. Everyone stared at her, knowing she had taken it the hardest. First her father then Robin. Fate was cruel and that in itself was cruel.

_Recognize Batman 01_

Batman walked up, his usual regular emotionless face was on.

"I have a mission for you," he said, gesturing for the team to follow him into the debriefing room. They all wandered after him, setting downs their things to follow. Hoping maybe, just maybe it would be something for Robin. They knew, however, that their hope was ill; suffering and dwindling with each passing day. With each passing hour. Each minute. Not that they would admit it though. Defeat did not come easily to the young heroes.

Batman swept his hand through the air, a holographic computer showing up. He began typing, pictures of building and files popping up. "The league was given a tip about a lab in Northern California, Tempus Labs, about an experiment called Project Paradox. It is unknown what the purpose is but it is known that human experimentation is involved."

The girls let out small gasps, the thought of such a thing made them shudder. The boys, attempting to look strong, kept on stiff faces. Connor was angered by the though of a human being experimented on. Wally, having gotten his powers from a lab, didn't seem to have any shown problem. But he, however, had been hospitalized for three months after it, having barely survived. Who knows what those crazed scientists were doing. Kaldur kept his face stiff but inside, he too, was angered.

Batman continued, "You are to go and infiltrate and investigate. Bring back the files so the league can go over them. Do not, I repeat- Do not draw attention to yourselves. Understood?"

The team nodded, the message was clear.

"Good, suit up and be ready in five minutes."

They watched as Batman swept from his room, his mood seemed to attract their damp one from before and the dark from before was taken with him, a nicer mood left in his wake. Quite odd, if looked upon by a mere citizen. But the team and even the league was used to it, their fowl moods were nothing compared to the dark knights. And so, in comparison, their moods were often left a bit lighter than before.

They scattered, going toward their rooms to get changed. Zatanna simply muttered a changing spell under her breath, changing into her suit. "Oh, Robin," she muttered, closing her eyes, "where are you?"

* * *

R0 was curled up in his bed, his small arms were wrapped around his body. His bright blue eyes were downcast and his white clothing had a few blood splatters on it, for they hadn't even bothered to change his clothing. R0 chocked, taking in a raspy breath, having not drunk or eaten anything in a week. They were seeing how long he could go without food or water. Why?

As far as he knew, he held nothing special. He couldn't shoot electric balls from his hands like another kid, she was dead, he couldn't manipulate fire to come from his hands, he was dead, and he couldn't move things with his mind, she was dead. They told him he was special, because all the really special kids weren't special compared to one another- he was special because there was nothing about him.

He didn't understand.

They said he didn't need to.

He had been eyeing the small slot for about… well, he didn't know how long. But he knew it was long. His stomach growled and he gave a small whimper. His arms fell, falling toward the grey sheets and he clutched them in pain. A small gash on his arm broke, the red color bright against the white and grey around him. His pale-tan skin looked a grayish-tan compared to the crimson color. His blue eyes dulled slightly as he stared at the gash on his him, not seeming to take any actual notice.

His subconscious knew it was there but didn't seem to care.

His eyes suddenly wandered around the white room, looking for an escape. That red color triggered something, something that brought him dread and pain- but he was used to pain. So why did this feel different? He'd felt pain, he'd been electrocuted… he'd felt pain. But this… it felt as if he'd been close to something and then had it ripped away from him. He shook it off and suddenly, the door opened.

A whitecoat came in and grabbed his arm and the boy cried out in pain from weakness. The man dragged him out of the room, the boy was weak and his skinny arms, frail and small, almost seemed to break from mere touch; as if they were as delicate as glass feathers. "Hurry up kid, this is important," the man growled, his grip tightening around the boy's arm. He wailed out in pain, tears coming to his eyes.

He was stuffed into a room.

More Whitecoats greeted him.

And science instruments.

And a medical table.

Tears rose in his eyes. Another test.

They grabbed him and he yelled, trying to escape, yet they stuffed him on the medical table. The strapped him down by his wrists and ankles. The restraints were metal. Dr. Anders appeared in the room, the door closing without a sound. R0 squirmed even more when he saw her, his blue eyes widening.

The Dr. smiled, not a very nice one, and then moved forward; pressing a button.

Bolts of electricity danced down the boys arms. Pain erupting within.

* * *

"Where are we now?" Kid Flash asked, sighing deeply and brushing some red hair from his emerald eyes. Artemis and Superboy both shot him irritated looks. Aqualad did his best to ignore the ginger while Rocket and Zatanna both rolled their eyes. Miss Martian, being the ever so kind Martian she was, smiled patiently in Kid Flash's direction. That was the fifth time that he'd said that. It was getting annoying but they understood his impatience. This was the first time they'd had a mission in a while.

"Over, I believe, Nevada," Miss M replied, giving Kid Flash a weary smile.

The speedster sighed, his need for action annoying a certain blonde across the Bio-Ship. Kid Flash sighed deeply once again; hoping to emphasize his boredom to the rest of the team. Well, it certainly worked. He was sent an array of irritated looks and a few 'Shut ups!' were heard, yet the ginger made no more remark. Neither did the team, they all felt the same excitment that he felt. They simply did not express it in the same manner.

"Gosh, I wonder what we'll find!" Zatanna announced, rather loudly, attempting to make conversation. Superboy grunted and turned away, the thought of going in a lab quite displeasing to him. Miss Martian smiled at her, thinking something along the same lines. Artemis had a thoughtful look upon her face but she nodded. Kid Flash sighed again and looked out the window. Rocket just shrugged.

"Who knows," Aqualad began, "what we'll find there. Whatever this Project Paradox is, it is nothing good. We will get the files and go, we will not mess this up. Understood?" His tone was firm yet understanding. The team nodded, they wouldn't mess up- for Robin's sake. It wasn't said, but it was implied. Kid Flash turned away, closing his eyes. He missed his best friend, heck… he knew that they all did, but… his best friend.

Gone.

Stupid Zeta-beam technology. How did they, whoever they were, even get a hold of it? He thought only the league used it.

"We're here," Miss Martian said quietly as the Bio-Ship moved down toward a big concrete building. It was dusk, the sun was slowly setting in the sky; illuminating the sky with a reddish light. They landed in the woods by the building, outside of the boundries. It wasn't dense but the redwood tress certainly made it hard to land.

"Good," Kid Flash muttered, staring at the sky, "_Red sky at night; sailor's delight, red sky in the morning; sailor's take warning. _I feel something is going to happen. Something good," he jumped up a bit, shaking his arms and legs in coming excitement. Artemis rolled her eyes at his little nerd moment but smiled a bit, glad he was getting back to his normal self. In the back of her mind, however, the thought of Wally going back to normal would mean he'd give up on Robin coming back, making it final.

"Alright," Aqualad said, standing up, "Miss Martian will disguise herself-"

Suddenly, Miss Martian doubled over, holding her head. Her eyes glowed white and she muttered under her breath. "M'gann!" Superboy and Kid Flash screamed both grabbing her. The Bio-Ship set up a chair for her to fall back on. The Martian collapsed and took a few deep breaths. Kid Flash took a shaky step back and folded his arms over his chest, yet his eyes conveyed worry.

"M'gann, are you alright?" Aqualad asked, holding her by the shoulders; having stepped forward after a moment. She leaned back and gave out a shaky breath and the looked up at the Atlantean, the white fading toward a hazel in her eyes. She looked frightened and scared. The words she said... chilled them all.

"I saw… through someone's mind… they have Robin."

* * *

Seven months.

That's how long his ward, no…. his son had been gone.

There had been nothing but Bruce Wayne wasn't admitting defeat. Admitting defeat would be declaring Richard Grayson dead. Bruce knew he wasn't. He wasn't sure how, but he could feel that his son was still alive. Maybe because he still felt that that light was there, even if it was fading. Like a candle being slow blown out, as if in slow motion.

Right now, Richard Grayson was in an exclusive boarding school in Europe. No pictures, no news, no nothing.

Because he wasn't there.

He had just disappeared without a trace. Even the Zeta-beam, advanced Zeta-beam technology mind you, hadn't left any trace of where he would be. Where he could be.

And Bruce never even got to say goodbye.

_No, _Bruce scolded himself, _there's no reason for you to have to say goodbye. He isn't gone. _

At least, that's not what everyone told him. The league anyway. The original founders didn't, Wonder Woman still liked to believe he was there, somewhere in the world. Superman and Flash refused to believe their nephew was gone. Green Lantern was to stubborn and Hawk Woman threatened anyone who said otherwise. Martian Manhunter didn't know what to say, but he didn't think Ro- Richard was gone either. Bruce wouldn't dare. He wouldn't, shouldn't, couldn't.

If anything, with each passing day, Bruce only got a little more hope… but with every passing day… some of that hope would die. Just a twinge of it, but enough to let the man's mood fall enough to make thundershowers come and lighting strike in the distance.

Richard wasn't dead, though, and that was that.

* * *

"Well!" Kid Flash yelled, taking a step back, "what are we waiting for?"

Aqualad stood up and out a hand up toward Kid Flash, who was practically vibrating through the Bio-Ship's floor. Artemis put a hand on the speedsters shoulder to calm him down. He looked over at her and then nodded and took a deep breath. Zatanna's eye were widened as she heard this, still processing it in her mind.

Robin.

Robin was there. Finally, she would see him. But, would he be the same? He'd been in a _Lab _for seven months. Had he thought they'd given up on him? Would he different? Would he be a meta now? Zatanna shuddered. The though of Robin being a meta-human seemed to scare her. She hoped, she really hoped, that nothing had changed. But she knew that hope was worthless. Something would have happened after seven months.

"We must wait until further notice and contact Batman. This completely changes the situation," Aqualad said, looking from teammate to teammate.

Kid Flash stared at him incredulously, "What? No! We can't wait! It's Rob, he's in there! We have to go save him! It's freaking _lab_," he shouted, throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis. His green eyes were narrowed and his head was tilted upward. He wasn't moving. Superboy stepped up behind the speedster and nodded, cross his arms over his chest. He wasn't budging either.

Aqualad sighed and opened his mouth, but Zatanna moved behind the clone and red-head. He looked at Rocket, Miss Martian, and Artemis. Miss Martian seemed to be thinking hard, as if Robin or the mission was a big problem, but then she too stepped over with the group. Artemis hesitated but then stepped over as well, crossing her arms over her chest.

Rocket didn't move but then stepped over with Aqualad. "I…. I didn't know him that well, and the mission is more important," she said, frowning.

Kid Flash opened his mouth for an Artemis-worthy retort but snapped his mouth shut and turned away. Aqualad sighed and looked down, realizing he was fighting a losing fight. "Fine, we will go after Robin but do it covertly, just as before. Kid Flash, you will knock out an employee coming from the parking lot. Miss M will transform into her, taking her ID and anything else that might seem vital. Look into her memory and search for anything important-"

"But I can't-"

"You can and will," Aqualad broke in, his face stern, "she will enter and make her way to a File Room. When she opens the door, Kid Flash will speed in and enter the Security Office. You will knock out the guards, turn off the cameras and sound a red alert. Once everyone is out of the building the rest of the team will enter. Understood? Make no mistakes," he stood tall, like a leader and crossed his arms over his chest. His turn to be unmoving, no one would object. Now that he was on board with getting Robin, he was determined to get him back.

Everyone nodded. Miss Martian and Kid Flash looked at each other and nodded. The Bio-Ship created a whole for the two to exit from and they landed softly in the woods by the facility. They walked for awhile and came to the barbwire fence with warning of electric shock posted all over it. They both grinned at the stupidity of the builders, well, mostly Wally did. Having already gone into camouflage mode, Miss M snapped a security camera with her telepathy and then grabbed Kid Flash, carrying him over the seven foot fence.

They landed on the other side and the speedster dashed, not at super speed, behind a car. Another one, a green Honda, was rolling along. A man stepped out once he'd parked.

Not that one.

After a few minutes another car came and parked beside the green one. It was a Toyota Camry, a blue one. Out stepped a young blonde lady who looked like she couldn't harm a fly. She wore a black skirt and blue ruffled shirt and black pointed heels, a white lab coat was thrown over her shoulder. Wally growled silently. If she had been hurting Robin… if any of them...

Miss Martian grabbed Kid Flash's shoulder and squeezed it, letting him know she was feeling the same thing. Kid Flash smiled at her and then nodded, suddenly he was moving forward, yet he could still see the world around him in much sharper detail. Everything was as it would have been had be been standing still. His arm was outstretched and he knocked the woman over, rendering her unconscious. Miss M came over and transformed into her. They pulled the body away, back over the fence and in the woods. She would be out for a good while.

They then got back over the fence. Kid Flash sped forward and hid behind a car close to the revolving doors. Miss M straightened and walked forward, a small smile on her now pale face. She walked past the speedster but made no indication of his presence by her. The disguised Martian walked forward and pushed through the doors, holding out her ID. The security guard smiled and, as the door closed, a strong breeze was caught in it, blowing past them. The guard merely soaked it up.

Miss M smiled at her and made her way to the elevator. In the giant elevator that was quite a large space. There was a map of each level. Filing offices were on the fifth floor. She smiled sweetly as she pressed the button a man next to her taking no notice. "Which floor?" she asked, merely to be polite. The man looked up and grunted.

"Eh? Oh, uh… tenth. I'm working set up that project… puzzle was it? Dag-nab it, can't remember. Well, yeah, tenth," he said, not moving his eyes from the papers in his arms. Project Puzzle? Miss Martian frowned, they were looking for Project Paradox, and Robin. A paradox was a puzzle, correct? She still didn't understand a lot of earth ways and words.

The fifth floor came and she dashed out., anxious to get away from any real workers.

The floor was filled with halls and rooms. Most contained filing cabinets. Which one to choose? There were about five doors in this hall alone, any of them could have it. She walked past the doors and then stopped, turning back to the first one. Written on the top of it was A-H. She looked at another door: I-K and the next was L-O and the one after that was P-T! P for Project _P_aradox. She quickly rushed into the room and went into the first cabinet she saw. Paradox- P-A-R.

PAA, PBA, PCA; she went down the line, the files contained numbers next to their name. She came to PAR and began to move down the line. It took awhile and the Martian began to wonder if she had even chosen the correct cabinet.

**Project Paradox P8-12**

She picked up this file and smiled. She had retrieved what she'd come for. Now, the next thing was Robin.

"Hey!" A voice said, "this isn't your department!"

Miss Martian spun around, the file tightly gripped in her hand. A man stood there in a white lab coat, pointing an accusing finger at her.

And suddenly, the alarms began to blare. The lights flashed between red and white. "Intruder Alert!" a robotic voice began to say, a loud Beep! Beep! began to blare. She glanced worriedly over at the man and he at her. "Come on, we need to evacuate the building!" he exclaimed and dashed out of the room.

Miss M let our a sigh of relief and then slid the file into her bag and the promptly went into camouflage mood.

* * *

After Wally had knocked the two guards out, he was unsure of which button to press. As there were two red buttons. Both had _Alert!_ written on them in bold letters, but that didn't help him figure out what to choose. He lifted his hand to his comm.

"Kid Flash to Aqualad, can you read me?"

Silence and a bit of cackling.

"Shoot," KF muttered and leaned on the control board, "signal's jammed." He glanced over at the buttons and sighed, figuring he'd just have to press both. He slid over and put his right hand over one and his left over another. And then…

BAM!

"Intruder Alert!" And alarm began to blare.

"Oops," was promptly muttered.

* * *

Artemis shifted uncomfortably and watched as the windows began flashing red and white and people began to pour out of the building and into their lovely, expensive cars. Of course, every time the door opened she heard, "Intruder Alert!"

She groaned. Maybe they had been discovered or KF was an idiot and he had pressed the wrong alarm button. She was going toward the second one.

"We'll enter through the roof," Aqualad said, standing up and watching the cars empty out. Soon they were almost gone and the were practically clear to go through the front door. Of course, they all knew that there was going to be a hitch, something bad would happen and they would have to improvise.

"Got it," the blonde archer said, glancing at Zatanna; who was practically bouncing up and down, her hands were twitching back and forth. Rocket was grinning wildly but frowning at the same time. Artemis, still slightly annoyed with Rocket, turned away in disgust. A mission over a friend, not even she was that cruel. "Good, let us go," the atlantean said and then ran, leaping over the fence in once bound. Superboy grabbed a hold of Artemis bridal style and leapt over, following. Zatanna muttered a spell under breath and a plastic type thing appeared under her feet and she floated over. Rocket flew over. The entire team was over.

They were all there, all together.

Even Robin.

* * *

**Review! :) **


	4. Chapter 3: Finding a little bird

**Oh, BTW, I'm changing the age Bruce took Robin in from eight to six. Sort of in the same timeline as my 'A Growing Robin story' where he took him in at six. The boy was smarter than most six year olds, however, so he took the loss harder than it would have been for a regular six year old. **

**If this is sounding (looking, whatever) to rushed; enlighten me please. I feel like I'm rushing a bit. **

* * *

**Chapter 3: **

* * *

They moved silently through the halls, glad that the alarms were there to fill the sound.

M'gann had returned to her normal green self once the team had reunited. The files were clutched in her hand, she didn't dare let it go. It was already bad that they had 'been noticed' to say the least, but if they lost the Project Paradox files; Batman wouldn't be happy. Or, even less happy. Or not at all, cause happy wasn't an emotion Batman was familiar with. Besides, after the explosion and with the fire; things wouldn't be looking to good for the team anyway.

"Hey! What are you doin' here!"

The team spun around, surprised to hear someone else but them. Even the mind-link was silent between them, afraid that if they were distracted wth others and their own thoughts they wouldn't notice or find Robin. They were all to anxious. Robin was here. _Here. _They wanted their teammate, their little bird, their little brother back. He was their brother, all of them would proudly admit it. Artemis and Wally especially. Not that Artemis knew, but he hung out with her more than Wally. At school.

"Run! Artie, shoot an arrow!" Kid Flash yelled, shock ringing in his voice as he rushed forward, moving at a slightly faster than normal speed. Artemis stopped and the rest of the team rushed past her and she knocked an explosive arrow onto her bow. Her sight was lined perfectly as she closed one eye, taking her aim. The twang pierced the air as it flew from her Compound bow. She smirked proudly as it made it's mark, glad that she could contribute to helping find Robin.

The men in the black suits dodged but the arrow exploded, smoke and fire covering their vision. Cries emitted from them as they realized what happened. She escaped with little problem as the more disoriented they became, the more havoc was raised.

Catching up with the team, they kept running. Faster.

That was what was on all of their minds. _Faster_. _Closer. _

"Miss M!" Aqualad asked, panting hard, "what floor are we on?"

They had, of course, taken an elevator a few times; having gotten lost in the building. Apparently they were on **Sub-level B-16**. Of course, this hadn't been the plan. They had simply needed to get the files, find Robin and then get out. Kid Flash had wanted everyone to separate, search and then when they found him get out. It was a good thing they hadn't done this. With all the security running around they would have been doomed. Besides, they all decided tat if they were to find Robin, they would do it as a team. He was all **their **teammate. They would do this together.

"Uh… Sub-level B-16!" she replied, her voice cracking under the pressure of not being caught and holding onto the file, which she constantly reminded herself about. It was clutched tightly in her hand, her death grip on it slightly crushing the paper. She knew that this was important, obviously, as Batman asked for it, but she felt that underneath the file holder, something was big. Something was going to happen with these papers, perhaps a discovery be made. Either way, it was important; that, she knew.

"Understood," was the prompt reply. Steel doors and white painted cement greeted them wherever they went, causing the team to be unsure if they had even moved. The red lights flashed, there was yelling and the constant: "Intruder Alert!" Sometimes the doors had windows on them and sometimes they were just plain blank steel. Some rooms had walls, or one wall, made completely out of glass. Medical tables and trays with syringes' and computers sometimes filled them. The tables often had metal restraints on them, it always caused the team to shiver. The horrible things that could have been done to their brother wormed into their minds, fillings them with negative thoughts. Was he, perhaps, dead? He'd been here for seven months. For all the team knew, that mind that M'gann popped into; well, they just could have been thinking back.

They past another medical room. Yet it wasn't empty. A boy, a mere child, was restrained to the table; writhing in pain. He must have been only six years old. You could barely hear his muffled shouts over the alarm. He wore all white but that white was stained with red, he looked frail and his eyes were hollowed out; giving him a sulking look. His chest rose and fell unevenly and the scars that were obviously new flashed in the fluorescent light.

The team suddenly, on a whim, stopped. They didn't know why, they needed to find Robin, but they did for this boy. Artemis ran up to the door, her face twisted into something of anger and pain for the child she was watching. They were torturing him, but int heir minds it was for science. Puh, screw science. This was plainly a modern form of torture. The team ran up behind her, all wanting to see. She spun around on them, "We have to set him free! He'll die!"

Her voice rose, telling anyone who defied her would suffer her wrath. She wanted nothing more than to help the child that was tied to the table with only a door to protect him. Her chin was slightly tilted up as she spoke, seemingly looking like a Monarch, someone who was in charge. The team glanced at each other. Zatanna opened her mouth to speak, yet was cut off by Kid Flash; who stepped forward defiantly. "No, we have to go find Rob!" he protested, his hands swiping through the air. Artemis stared at him incredulously.

"What? Are you serious! Robin would want us to save the kid and then him, you know it!"

Kid Flash looked pained, which only proved the archer's point. Suddenly, his shoulders slacked and his eyes fell downcast. "I…. I know, but… it's been seven months, Artie. _Seven months. _It's just… he was, no… is, my best friend. We're so close-" he cut off and then stood up and turned away, his moment of pain and heartbreak washed from his face. "-and I'm not turning back now."

He turned and walked away. Zatanna smiled apologetically at the blonde archer, who stared at Kid Flash with wide and surprised eyes. Connor soon followed after them and Rocket with him. Aqualad walked over to Artemis and put a hand on her shoulder. "I, too, wish to help the child. But we need to find Robin, he is my brother; your brother. We need him, Batman needs him, Gotham needs him. Come, we must hurry," and with that he turned and ran after the others.

She nodded, even though he wasn't there, and then began following. Suddenly, she turned and whipped through the door. The boy.

Her face twisted into pain as the child's screams echoed around her; filling her every thought. It sounded like he was being tortured…

He was.

She looked around wildly and then walked up to the boy, careful not to get to close. The electric bolts ran over his arms and he screamed bloody murder. You havedn't heard bloody murder till you heard this. It ached her ears, it hurt to listen a child being hurt. This was why she was a hero. To save.

Her grey eyes danced around the room, looking for something to stop it. Finally and endlessly, she located a lever. A grey dial was next to it, on the number nine. It went up to ten. She growled as she saw this and then yanked the lever down.

His screams stopped.

Quickly turning around, she ran to his side and stroked the onyx-ebony colored hair out of his face. He was panting hard, eyes squeezed shut. His chest rose and fell as unevenly as before but it was becoming regulated. A button on the bottom of the table stood out with its red color. She pressed and the restraints let out with a hiss. He fell over, into her waiting arms. The archer delicately layed him on the floor and his head lolled to the side and a small shiver passed through his body and he groaned silently.

"Shhhhhh," she muttered, not quite sure why she cared already so much about him. Suddenly, she knew and tears flooded to her eyes as she looked at the bleeding boy, no longer caring that his blood was getting on her. "Robin," she breathed, "what did they do to you?"

* * *

"They _what_?" Batman asked, staring at Black Canary murderously.

The blonde gulped and held up her hands. "Havoc. Part of the building exploded, the alert was sounded and they're running around trying to find something. They haven't even left yet. I-"

"I'm going to contact Aqualad. Call in their mentors. We _will_ discuss this with them."

Black Canary nodded and then turned away, smiling sadly at the man. He missed, needed, wanted Robin. They were close, closer than people imagined. They didn't even need to speak, they just knew. When Dick had come to live with Bruce, he had been broken, for lone, lost and sad and angry. Bruce was confused, he didn't know what to do. But they made it work, even if the trust that Dick had had for him was very little (from what she was told) when he first came, the boy could _only_ trust Bruce now.

Dinah wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing.

* * *

Bruce, no… Batman, sighed as his thoughts wandered to Dick. His son.

Right now Young Justice was running around in a building that exploded with top secret files, looking for something that they probably didn't need. And they were missing Robin. If anything, this year certainly wasn't the League's most luckiest.

He pressed a button on the holographic computer. "Batman to Aqualad, do you read me? Batman to Aqualad," the man growled into the Comm. link, which was, at the moment, as a video feed right then. There was no response other then static and a few muffled sounds. Either the signal was jammed or the atlantean was ignoring him. He hoped, honestly, that it was the second one.

_Recognize Green Arrow 06_

_Recognize Superman 02_

_Recognize Martian Manhunter 03_

_Recognize Flash 04_

_Recognize Icon 017_

_Recognize Aquaman 05 _

Batman didn't turn around as the heroes entered. He stayed poised in his position at the holographic computer. He heard them walk up to him but he didn't move, simply pulling up a satellite image of the building from the Watchtower. "The Young Justice team is still there. Apparently, they're looking for something. My guess is it isn't the files. They easily could have found that-"

"Soooo, what do you think it is?" Flash piped up, rocking back on his heels. Batman looked over at him sideways, giving a hard bat-glare. "That's what I'm trying to figure out," he hissed, making the speedster step away involuntarily. Superman and Martian Manhunter glared at Flash and then turned to Batman.

"Are we going to go after them?" Superman asked.

"No. Let's see this play out."

* * *

Artemis rushed through the halls, tears flowing from her eyes. She carried Robin in her arms, his head leaning on her shoulder.

What did they do to him? Torture him? Because it sure looked like it. They de-aged him into a six year old, a mere child in her eyes. He was bleeding a few places, white scars that had just recently scarred littered his arms. He was unusually light for a boy and small. He was tan, making the white lines on his arms and legs and even one on his cheek stand out. His eyes were hollowed out, sinking into his face. His unyx hair was scruffy but it was still the same silky, shaggy mess. It was not silkly though, it was in clumps; from sweat and blood.

She shifted him in her arms and began to run faster, hearing the teams cries. They were calling her name, but she didn't care. She needed to get to them, her eyes brimmed with tears as she pushed herself to her limit. Running faster, the team finally came into view.

"Artemis!" Kid Flash yelled, turning on her. His eyes widened when he saw the boy, or Robin, and then narrowed. "What did you do? I told you we needed to find Rob-"

The girl ignored him and rushed over, laying him on the ground. "KF, hand me Robin's mask, quickly- I know you keep it with you for good luck!" she exclaimed, reaching out her hand and looking up at the speedster. The team crowded around her, wanting to know what she was doing. Kid Flash didn't question anything as he handed her the mask. It looked rather sad; one side was slightly ripped and a bit of the white was turned grey as it was charred.

She gripped it in her hand and then pressed it over the boys eyes.

Leaning back, tears in her eyes, she said, "I think I found Robin."

* * *

All of the heroes stood around waiting.

Nothing had come from the Bio-Ship, the Comm. link or any else of communication, which meant telepathy. Martian Manhunter had gotten nothing from his young niece, this, in turn, worried him and he even considered going after them. Batman had otherwise convinced him to stay, saying if this was done it would show that the League did not trust the team to carefully go through with the mission _correctly_.

After this, of course, they wouldn't. The team would be suspended for awhile for their actions tonight. The League would go over this and see to it that it would a _long _while. They couldn't have the team running around if building were going to explode and alarms sounded and they directly disobeyed _the _Batman; who, right now, was inwardly fuming.

"Something entering the hanger," Superman said, glancing at Batman, "It's the Bio-ship." The bat narrowed his eyes and nodded. They turned and began walking toward the hanger, the Bio-ship landing with hardly a sound. Black Canary came in after the male heroes, wanting to get a piece of what happened. She was mad too and felt slightly betrayed.

The ship's door slowly went open and Batman stood in front of it, expecting to see the team walk out warily. He was not, however, expecting a Martian to fly out and cling to him while crying her eyes out. He looked down, slightly surprised; yet showing no emotion on his face. The Martian grabbed the edges of his cape and cried into his chest, her sobs echoed around the now quiet hanger.

The rest of the leaguers stared at the girl confused and shocked. What was going on?

Suddenly, Aqualad and Kid Flash walked out, both looking rather shocked, scared and angry; murderous actually. Whatever they had seen had effected them greatly, whatever it was. Miss Martian mumbled an apology and went to stand next to the atlantean, who grabbed her by the shoulders. Superboy then walked out with Zatanna and Rocket. Zatanna's normally happy blue eyes were red, showing that she had been crying as well. Rocket looked petrified and shocked, her body was tense and stiff.

Superboy took Miss Martian from Aqualad, who gratefully handed her over.

"What happened?" Batman snarled, eyeing the teens with wary eyes. They winced and looked down, but it was obvious that they weren't ashamed of what they did. Their eyes, all red from obvious tears, faces flushed red from yelling and screaming, told them so. Superman stepped up behind Batman, his face stern.

"Team, what happened back there? Why do you look so… angry?" he questioned, his voice much softer than the bats. The team looked up and then glanced at each other. Kid Flash shakily stood forward.

"We… well, it's… complicated," he replied, glancing back at the ship with red, puffy emerald green eyes. Green Arrow frowned and looked at the team. "Where's… where's Artemis? Is she-?"

"She is fine, for the most part," Aqualad said, his silver glancing back at the ship as well. "We got the files. Miss M?"

The Martian girl nodded and stepped over to Batman, handing over the files with her head hung down. She rubbed a few tears from her eyes as he grabbed the file. "He… here," she muttered and then turned away, another flow of tears coming.

The older heroes glanced at each other. Why was Artemis still in the ship? What happened back there that had effected the team so? Was she hurt? Did something happen? Hurt them? They seemed fine, for the most part anyway. Each of their faces were red, their eyes as well. Obviously from crying; but for what? Miss Martian gave out a sound that sounded like she was chocking, her eyes were closed and she whimpered. Martian Manhunter stepped forward and helped her from collapsing. Superboy handed her over, looking reluctant, but she didn't protest.

"I… I'm sorry!" she wailed, "I just… we didn't mean to cause trouble… found… we found…" she hiccupped and buried her face in her uncles chest. The older Martian looked down sympathetically and rubbed her back. The girl continued crying. Aqualad and Kid Flash both looked pained as they watched her. They glanced at each other and then at their mentors.

"What?" Batman persisted, "what did you find?"

"I… I'll get Artemis," Kid Flash said, suddenly disappearing into the ship. Flash stepped forward, his eyebrows knit together under his red cowl. Black Canary had gone over to assist to Miss Martian and Aquaman had stood up next to Superman. Icon looked over at Rocket disapprovingly, not wanting to intrude; mainly unsure of what to do.

Kid Flash suddenly appeared next to the edge of the ship where Batman was standing. He was biting his lip, hands intertwined behind his back. His eyes conveyed worry and anger mixed into one, he had gone pale as well; obviously shocked by whatever they had found.

Artemis suddenly appeared in the lights. Her eyes were red and puffy as well, her face was flushed red with anger and sweat. But, unlike the others, she was carrying something in her arms. It was a small boy, looking about six or seven with ebony hair. He was fairly tan and wearing a white shirt and shorts. His arms were lined with little white scars and a few were bleeding. His head was leaning against the blonde archer's shoulders.

"What," Batman hissed, "is that?"

The girl winced, "Don't call him that!" she snapped… _at the Batman_. Everyone, even the leaguers, stared at her shocked and surprised that she would do such a thing. Batman's eyes narrowed as she stepped forward, absentmindedly stroking the boy's black, onyx-ebony hair.

She stood right there in front of Batman, looking up at him. "I found Robin," and then she showed him the domino mask on the boy.

_Robin. _

His breath hitched as he now recognized the young boy he had taken in when he was six.

He heard a few gasps from behind him, but he tuned them out. He felt a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. He delicately took the boy in his arms, kneeling down on the floor. Robin, no, Dick, there was no mask, gave a wince of pain and he groaned. Batman let a low growl rip from his throat as he looked at his son.

What did they do to him?

Batman stood up and looked at Superman. "Med bay. Now," he commanded, though the teens couldn't detect it, the older heroes heard panic and panic.

* * *

R0 felt himself being laid down on a table. He squeezed his eyes tighter, another test. What would they do this time? Maybe he would be dowsed in water, it had happened before. Maybe he would be electrocuted or perhaps he would be pricked over and over again. His breath hitched when he felt gloved hands on his shoulder.

He felt his shoulder being rubbed in comfort.

Slowly, his eyes opened. His was in a white room, which wasn't much of a surprise. What was a surprise was, however, that there was a man that was green, a man in a cape with an odd symbol on his chest, and a blonde woman. A man with a black cowl, his eyes covered, stood over him. The man was the one rubbing his shoulder.

R0 opened his eyes completely and the man, everyone, froze.

"Robin," the man spoke softly, "are you alright?"

Ro stared at him, confused. He tilted his head slightly to the side. Of course, he hadn't given permission to speak; so he would not talk unless he was told he could. He didn't want these people who looked nice to hurt him.. He wanted to remain there for as long as possible. Then again, who was this Robin they spoke of? R0's name was, well, R0. He knew robin was a type of bird that lived in North America; he didn't know why he was being called this.

The man stared at him and then took off the cowl, revealing navy blue eyes that seemed tired and worried and pained and happy all at the same time. They stared at each other for a few moments, both waiting for the other to speak.

"Robin," the man continued, "please. Are you alright? What happened there?"

R0 had to actually refrain from scowling and frowning with displeasure. Why did this strange man with the kind, worried eyes call him a robin? Perhaps he was being mistaken for another patient, not that R0 himself had seen many others around him. Only a few, of course, were seen when they were either taken to the room or when you had to watch another being killed for a warning. It had happened to him twice. He had to watch them slaughter another in front of his eyes. The images burned in his head. They- suddenly, another image popped in front of him. The people, adults, like the white coats, lay there on the ground; blood leaked from their bodies, bones sticking up at odd angles.

And then it was gone.

"Robin," the man sounded panicked now as he ripped R0 from the image. The boy sucked in a surprised breath and he blinked rapidly, the light from the room around him filling his vision, the dark, faded vision was long gone.

But the imprint was still there.

A green man walked up behind the man clad in black, his eyes glowing white. R0 thrashed and stiffened a bit, his head thrusting back in surprise. He felt… something in his mind. He'd felt this before, a form of torture from Dr. Hinders. So, they were working for her. He closed his eyes, not realizing that this feeling was warm, and the warmth spread through his limbs.

The feeling was abruptly gone as soon as he thought that and R0's eyes reopened once more. "Permission to speak granted," the green man said, sounding calm and relaxed. His body showed otherwise, however, as his muscles were stiff and tense, as if he was wary for an oncoming attack.

"Who is Robin?"

Mistake.

He asked a question.

And their eyes widened.

* * *

**I'm looking for a beta yor YJ and Teen Titans if anyone is interested. You must, or I am at least insisting, that you have a beta profile so can find out what you're good at. Thank you. **

**Dedicated to: Jazzmonkey **

**Review please. Please don't forget to tell me if it is rushed or anything. Thanks. :) If you leave a review that catches my attention, I'll reply back. Ask good questions and be descriptive. **

**I will write ahead for the fifth and sixth chapter and perhaps the seventh. I won't come out with them as fast though but they'll be good. Thanks. **

**Sincerely, **

**-Fighter1357**


	5. Chapter 5: Memories

**Onward! **

**Song I'm listening to: **_**Hero**_** by Skillet **

**Still looking for a beta if anyone is interested. :) Uh, a beta in grammar and spelling and stuff. Everyone makes mistakes, and so do I, so I need someone to look over it after I do. Thanks! XD **

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

* * *

"I'm so mad!" Wally yelled, slamming his fist down on the table, even cracking the granite a bit. The dishes and apple bowl rattled and the sound echoed throughout the cave. Everyone looked at the red headed speedster warily, knowing the reason for his anger. They all felt it too. How could they not?

They had finished their mission… and more. They found Robin, their lost team mate, brother, friend. They found him being tortured, six years old (he had been thirteen), and unconscious; mainly because he had been electrocuted over and over when they found him. But they had turned their back on him, because they hadn't known. If it hadn't been for Artemis, he would have been left there. The thought scared them, the thought of leaving their little brother to be tortured by some maniacs in white coats gave them chills. It sent shivers down their backs. M'gann couldn't sleep at the thought, images popping up in her head at night in the dark haunted her, causing her sleepless nights.

Artemis put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Wally, calm down. I know you're mad. We're all too. Look, we found him. We… we should be… happy, I guess," she said, her voice soft, which was odd for her. It was hard to be happy, since they found him in a lab, tied to a medical table and being tortured. Wally looked up, his green eyes were desperate for the reassurance he so dearly desired.

"Artie, look, you don't get it," he started, his voice suddenly rising, "I pretty much turned my back on him! I left him there! If it wasn't for you… he would still be there! Artie, I left him there because I was so stupid!" His fist hit the table again and she jumped in surprise, but her hand tightened on his shoulder and her eyes narrowed defiantly.

"Wally," her voice was stern as she said this, causing him to look over. His green eyes steadied as she stared at him with grey, now angry, eyes. They conveyed anger, disappointment, doubt and failure, though the last one hardly detected by the boy; he could see it clearly. "if you think that you turned your back on him because you didn't recognize him, you're stupid. You turned because you were looking for him. You didn't stop, you were determined to find him, because you cared for him. Because he's your little brother. If anything, I was the stupid one. I stopped, because in my mind, I was convinced we wouldn't find him, alright? When you ran after him, you knew you were going to find him. And screw it, Wally, we did. Both of us. You found him in spirit and I found him here. Understood?"

He stared at her with wide eyes and then quickly nodded his head.

"Right," M'gann chimed in, looking between the two, "you guys found him. We all found him. But…" her voice faded and everyone exchanged quick glances between each other. Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, and Flash hadn't come out of the Med Bay yet. Icon was standing outside to make sure the kids didn't try to get a peek. Rocket had tried to make her mentor move, she had honestly seemed to beg so they could get a look. He didn't budge, giving her a glare that said 'please-move-now'. She had returned to the kitchen grumbling, but it told the teens that it didn't work.

"I know, M'gann," Aqualad said, staring at the floor sadly, "we are all worried for him." She nodded, silent tears coming to her eyes, images of him being electrocuted coming into her vision. Suddenly, her telepathic powers began to act up and the images flashed in everyone's head. They saw him being electrocuted again and then it seemed she had entered his memories. Drowning, poking with needles, endless hours of training for something he didn't know about. They felt his emotions. Pain, confusion, anger, fear and actually peace when he went to sleep. They also felt ultimate fear, the kind that one only got when they thought they were either dying or were going to die.

And then it was gone.

M'gann began to cry when the realization hit her and she came to find that it was her fault. "I… I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, "I didn't mean too!" Superboy slid across the kitchen and pulled her into his arms, glaring at anyone who would say anything to hurt her. Artemis and Wally both looked extremely pained and Zatanna and Rocket both had tears in their eyes. Aqualad had looked away from everyone else, feeling like he had betrayed them somehow. Perhaps because he didn't save Robin from the Cadmus bomb. He was leader and it was his job to protect his team. He didn't protect them and now look what had happened. His shoulders fell, he was a horrible leader.

"We don't blame you, M'gann," he said, looking up with silver eyes. She nodded into Connor's chest, wiping her tears away.

Suddenly, the Med Bay door opened and Superman walked out, looking extremely confused. "What just happened?" he asked, leaning on the door frame with a concerned look on his face. He glanced at M'gann and Connor and he frowned. Artemis looked up at him, grey eyes filled to the brim with tears.

"M'gann accidentally went into his mind and projected his memories," she frowned, "You guys were effected too?"

Superman nodded, frowning. "Yes, Batman just about went into hysterics when it was done," he cracked a small smile, "Don't tell him I said that. And, uh, I guess you guys want to know what's up with Robin?" He didn't wait for an answer and simply continued, "He has no memory. They took it away and replaced it with created ones, making him believe he had always been at the facility. We're not sure whether or not that his memories are subdued or taken away entirely. If they were, you know, taken away entirely we can't-"

"Get his memories back?" Wally whispered, staring in horror at the man of super poweredness. Superman nodded and shifted uncomfortably. The team frowned and stared at the ground. Rocket shifted uncomfortably as she stared at the Med Bay. Icon had disappeared inside and she guessed it must have happened while they were inside Robin's thoughts.

"Team," everyone jumped as Batman entered the kitchen, which was extremely weird, by the way. "You are going to have to know Robin's identity."

They stared at him in shock. So, they were finally going to learn who was behind the mask. The boy whose life was shielded from their own because of one man. All they knew was that he was thirteen, tan, his hair was black and he was short.

"You mean… his name?" Artemis asked in disbelief. Batman nodded. "If we are going to regain his memory, you are going to have to call him by his real name. Calling him Robin will not help, as then he would believe it his real name. Then so, we must call him by his birth name. If we called him Robin, like I said before, then he would believe that is his name. If he were here now and assessing the situation now, he would _not _want this," he said, looking from teen to teen. They each nodded in understanding, suddenly giddy with the thought of knowing who the boy wonder actually was.

"His name," Batman said, "is Richard John Grayson."

They all stared at him in wonder and suddenly, Artemis dropped to her knees in tears. Wally rushed forward with Zatanna and helped her up. She was crying her eyes out.

"What?" Wally asked, suddenly panicked, "What's wrong?" Zatanna helped set Artemis on the kitchen stool. The girl let out a small whimper as she laid her head on the couch. "I… I went to school with him, Gotham Academy. He was one of my friends, when he went to Ireland, I didn't think anything of it. How could be so stupid!"

"I thought you lived in Star City?" Wally asked, glancing at her confused.

"Scholarship," she replied hoarsely, not even really bothering to hide the fact that she actually lived in Gotham City and lied about her heritage too. Yeah, because she and Green Arrow looked so much alike.

Wally nodded in understanding and then turned back to Batman, who looked distressed. You could tell that he was worried about Ro- Richard so much. It felt weird not to call him Richard. Robin just seemed so normal, but if it was for him; they were going to do it. Batman was worried about him, though. Obviously, considering that after seven months and they finally found him at a freaking _lab _and he was de-aged and had no memory and subjected to horrible tests, you could understand why he was in pain. In pain for his son, who didn't even know who he was, by the way.

"So, what do we do with him now?" Rocket asked, standing up from the bar stool she had been so casually sitting on, her head in her hands. Batman glared at her for her choice of words and she flinched back, obviously sorry, but the man went on and answered the question anyway. "He is sleeping right now. When he wakes up we'll ask him a few questions and tell him who we are. We will introduce him to you in a few days once he gets used to us. Then I'll take him home-"

"You're Bruce Wayne, aren't you?" Artemis asked the Dark Knight questionably. The man turned to stared at her, his hand falling to his side. Superman watched nervously, but new that Batman wouldn't do anything. He had, by choice, given their identities away when he said Richard Grayson and by providing this information, he had freely given away his. Superman knew that the kids would have found out eventually, most likely from Dick begging Bruce to let him tell who he was, so in truth it hadn't been that much of an amazing feat.

"Yes. I will have to be my civilian identity for a while here, as to let him get used to me. Please, do not stare," he growled, sounding very irritable. The team nodded, their faces grim when they realized that the League was desperate enough to get Richard back that Batman even gave his and Robin's identities. Of course, this was in the sub-text as the League's pride was to much to admit this, not that they would admit their pride was large, but they didn't want to seem desperate for the kids. Even though they were and the kids could see it easily enough.

Batman and Superman nodded toward the kids and then walked away, leaving them standing there, heading back toward Med Bay. Back to Richard.

"You do know," Wally whispered, "that Ro- Richard will never be the same, right?"

They all nodded.

They didn't want to admit it, but they had lost Robin and they weren't sure if they really could bring him back.

* * *

Dr. Anders fist came down upon the table with unbridled fury.

Her teeth were clenched together and her eyes were dangerously narrowed. Her black hair was strewn around her face, shaping around it. Her bun was loose and her hair stuck out all over the place, but she didn't mind. The few other whitecoats, my apologies, _scientists_ were in the room, watching her warily as she glanced around, refusing to look at anyone but them. She wouldn't admit it, but she felt like she had failed. If they didn't get him back soon, Management would come and with Management came something worse.

"Ma'am?" One whitecoat said, nervously stepping forward, her hands clasped behind her back, herlips pursed in worry. Dr. Anders looked up furiously, mostly because someone had directly spoken to her and she hadn't even asked them to. Once the others realized they could do this, she would lose their power. And power, as everyone knows, is everything.

"What?" she hissed, her voice low and menacing as her head snapped in the direction of the lady. The lady flinched but stepped forward anyway, coming closer to Dr. Anders carefully. Her steps were hesitant, as if approaching a ravenous animal for the first time. She had rightto be careful though, as Dr. Anders could, with the snap of her fingers, make this lady disappear off the face of the planet. Heck, even the universe probably.

"A tracking device was planted on one of the infiltrators. We know exactly where they are," she mumbled, holding up a small tracking device. The screen showed a blinking red dot on it. It was stationary, for the most part anyway. Dr. Anders nearly fell over in confusion when she saw where it was. Something obviously had to be wrong with the tracker. Idiots, relying on foolish materialistic objects.

"Is… is it under a _mountain_?"

"Inside it, ma'am," she whitecoat whispered, but slightly pleased that she had shocked the one higher up than her. "The hideout is inside a mountain. We went into the security footage. It seemed someone shut down the systems and the back up system kicked in. It took awhile to load, but we saw who took R0."

Dr. Anders stared at her, waiting for the girl to continue. "And?"

The girl blushed furiously and turned back toward another whitecoat. "Give me the still," she demanded. The other whitecoat nodded and slipped out a piece of paper, giving it to the female whitecoat. The girl nodded and thanks and handed it to Dr. Anders, grinning slightly, her lips pulled up at the edges.

Dr. Anders studied the paper and smirked. "So, the Justice Babies?"

* * *

R0 sat curled up in the test room.

They had taken off his restraints, which greatly confused him, and left him there. The man with the black cowl had wanted to stay, protesting loudly, but the man with the odd symbol had told him to leave R0 alone. Finally, the door gave a swoosh and the man with the black and the weird S symbol. The man with black came and sat by R0. The cowl was off, so R0 could see worried and angered navy eyes. If anything, this confused R0.

Why would they be worried for him? Obviously they were working with Dr. Anders, correct? If they weren't, who were they? Why did they seem so confused? R0 wanted to blurt out all these questions; he always wanted to ask questions. He didn't know where it came from, he just did. He kept his lips tight, as to not let one slip out. He didn't want to get punished. Besides, they hadn't told him to speak anyway. So, even if he could ask questions, it would do no good. He'd get punished. But the questions lay on the tip of his tongue and his mind begged him to ask them, but her refrained from doing so.

"Rich- R0. You can speak," the man in black croaked, his voice in obvious pain. R0 stared at him with curious eyes, his head tilting to the side in wonder. Set aside the pain, and you could hear that he was worried beyond comprehension. The eyes told R0 this, he could see what others were feeling. It just came to him. No, this wasn't a power given to him by the cruel whitecoats. The eyes were the window to the soul, and this soul was full of worry and pain and love.

"Who are you?" R0 asked, lifting his head up to get a better look of the man. He wore a black cape, black gloves and boots and a grayish costume with a bat on the front of his chest. The cowl had had white lenses so you couldn't see his eyes and you could only see his mouth and jaw. With the cowl on and the cape over his shoulders, covering his entire body, he looked terrifying.

"My… my name is Bruce Wayne… I am your adoptive father," he whispered, kneeling next to R0. R0 did a double take, his head snapping back in surprise, giving the man called Bruce a confused look. "But-"

"You were kidnapped from me, us, by Tempus Labs. They erased your memory and your… your name is Richard John Grayson."

R0 didn't frown; in fact, he looked quite thoughtful as this revelation came to him. Richard John Grayson… yes, it seemed right. He could imagine being called Richard, even John worked fine, but Richard seemed right. This settled in and suddenly, he felt sort of an annoyance. He felt like Richard sounded to formal… Dick. Now that he thought about it, someone, a female, calling him Dick sounded right.

"Call… call me Dick. That seems right, please, sir," R0, no, Dick said, swallowing and awaiting to be slapped for saying something or even protesting in a subtle manor. Wayne froze but then nodded, his eyes widening in surprise. The man with the S symbol seemed to be shocked and he turned around and began typing furiously on a keyboard that had just appeared.

"Dick…-"

"You said, sir, adoptive father. I have learned to word adopted, who were, then sir, my real parents? If what you are telling me is the truth, who are they? Are they here?" Dick seemed to look around expectedly, waiting for them to pop up perhaps. Wayne looked pained as he thought about this, having not wanted to talk about this so early.

"I'm sorry, Dick, but they're dead."

The boy frowned and a flooded of images flashed in his eyes, his head being thrown back in shock, he heard his name but soon all sound from the outside world was gone as well. He saw a woman and a man. They were holding hands and smiling. The woman had brown-reddish hair and fairly pale skin. Her eyes were bright blue; cerulean. She wore jeans and a t-shirt and her red-brown hair was pulled back in a bun. The man had dark, onyx hair that was cropped short and brown eyes. He was tan and very muscled, wearing jeans and a t-shirt as well. They were laughing, gesturing for Dick to come. He stared at them, his head tilting to the side.

Were they perhaps his parents?

Suddenly, the image changed; turning into something much more grotesque.

Blood began to seep out of them, and they turned paler and paler as they deflated toward the ground, falling, begging for Dick to save them. They reached out, their clothes changing into red tunics that were often used for gymnastics. The crumpled to the ground, blood forming a puddle around them. The ground turned into a sickly shade of brown and red from the mixture of blood and dirt. It was quiet and a silent wind blew past Dick, who was frozen in his spot. The bones gave a defying crack, as if someone falling from a great height had just smacked into concrete and their bones moved, snapping into odd directions; leaving their bodies mangled and deformed.

He felt dread and pain coarse through him, the eyes some much like the woman's, _his mother's_, eyes.

Yes.

His parents were dead.

Suddenly, he was brought back into reality. The man, no Bruce Wayne, his adoptive father, stood there, looking extremely worried and confused; mostly because Dick had practically blacked out.

"Dick?" he asked, grasping the boy by his shoulders.

Dick stared at him for a moment and then fell into his shoulders, sobbing.

* * *

**This felt like a good place to end it. Sorry this was so short, but it was the right place to end it. If you forgive me, can I have a cookie? **

**Next chapter should be up soon and we'll begin the healing of Dick Grayson.**

**Review! **

**Is this going to fast paced? I feel like I'm going to fast with the chapters, or are they alright? I, personally, feel it's to rushed. **

**Song I'm listening to: _Monster _by Skillet (Love that band!) **

**Still looking for a Beta. Thanks. **

**Can we get up to 65 reviews? Because 50 with four chaptersis freaking awesome guys! Thanks! **


	6. Chapter 6: Week 1 of Healing

**I made up how Babs met Dick, so bare with me. **

**Green Lantern that I mention: John Stewart. I'm not sure if he is the one they use in YJ, but I believe he was there and since he's in the founding seven, I brought him in with a few lines. If anone can guess where I'm hinting at JLU, tell me; because it's there. **

**Alright, I got a few Beta offers and it seems I might have someone.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Project Paradox file and Management **

* * *

Batman glanced over at Superman, the dim light of the Batcave creating an eerie glow. The only bright light provided came from the bat computer and cast dark shadows on their faces. Wonder Woman's blue eyes scanned over Batman, who was slouched over with fatigue and the weight of worry. Both she and he knew that he desperately needed sleep, but they had just gotten Dick back; and she knew he wouldn't rest while he was in the state he was in.

Who knew, maybe they could cure him.

If there was anything to cure. As far as they knew, he was at the state he would have been as a six year old. Nothing dangerous or strange ran through his blood, his mind was healthy and he was strong. But he was a thirteen year old boy that had experienced so mush pain in his life, no older man could compare. Except, of course, Bruce Wayne. The man who saw his parents shot in the chest before him.

"It's time we look at that file," Batman spoke, his voice echoing around the cave darkly; filling the bat filled cave with an eerie sound. Superman and Wonder Woman, the only two he really trusted in the cave, nodded. Sure, Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl as well as Martian Manhunter were welcome, but Bruce _and _Batman weren't very fond of meta's in Gotham City, let alone in his house. They rarely came to the Batcave unless the situation was dire. And by dire it meant some type of alien invasion using the Earth as a roadway to protect their home planet and would therefore destroy the earth in the process, but that would never happen.

"Alright," Wonder Woman said, her voice quavering, slightly afraid to see what the yellow folder contained. Truly, she was curious but she didn't want to know what type of tests these human would commit to their own kind. She was worried there would be pictures that would show and honestly, she was afraid of that. Sure, Diana Prince had seen blood. She had witnessed death, but even so, humans, she had found out, were cruel creatures sometimes.

Superman nodded, his eyes were narrowed into a steely glare as he noticed the file folder in Batman's tightly formed fists. His hands were clasped behind his back and he shifted uncomfortably as he thought about Dick. In some ways, his nephew. He had known the kid since he came to see Bruce about why he had been avoiding the league so much. At first, he had been expecting to find Bruce. Not some small ebony haired eight year old boy that was a ball of infinite energy and life.

He hadn't even managed to confront Bruce about it. He only confronted him about the boy and why he was living there.

Hence the reason he had been so mad, so _angry_, when he heard Batman had a partner named Robin. He knew the boy would get hurt. And, sure, he would get kidnapped and held ransom as Dick Grayson; mainly because he was the ward of a billionaire. But as a vigilante, he would get hurt even more. Beaten, bruised, knifed and attacked is no world for an eight year old. In fact, Clark had protested loudly toward it when he came to the Manor one night.

If only he had protested more. Dick wouldn't be in this mess then.

"Where's Dick? Whose staying with him?" Superman spoke up, causing Wonder Woman to look over at him and then at Batman as well. Batman sighed and slipped the cowl off, showing weary navy eyes. He looked at the Bat computer and typed a few things in, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

Some video feed from Mount. Justice showed the Med Bay, Dick was on the bed; he was curled up in a ball, his arms tight around his knees. Flash and Hawkgirl were leaning up against the wall, talking quietly. They kept stealing glances at Dick and you could see Hawkgirl's, _Shayera's_, hand tighten around her mace in anger. But she would look away, back toward Flash, sighing deeply and continuing the conversation.

Bruce's eyes narrowed and he sighed, laying the file over the keyboard and ending the feed. "Flash and Hawkgirl. They're making sure no one get's in. Meaning the team or anyone who might try and find Dick."

Both meta's nodded and moved forward to look at the file. Bruce gave a deep sigh and flipped it open.

**Project Paradox:**

**Subject File: R00012J**

**Real name: Richard John 'Dick' Grayson**

Bruce gave a small choke at this. Wonder Woman gasped and Superman's eyes narrowed dangerously, becoming a reddish hue. So Dick was Project Paradox, he was the subject. It also explained why he was called R0. Martian Manhunter had, while reading his mind, found out this was a pet name of some sort. What they didn't know was that it was only a shortened version of his subject file name. And, so it turned out, Dick was the subject file in Project Paradox.

**Alias: Robin ( Former protégé of Batman) **

Bruce's eyes narrowed. So, they knew. Of course, he had to have expected this. Mostly because after seven months, someone would get curious and take the mask off. Truly, it wa inevitible. Dick had been begging Bruce to let him share his identity with the team. Bruce now wished they didn't have to learn the way they did.

**Age: 13 (Former)**

**Birthday: 3/21/98**

**Birth parents: Mary Joanna Grayson, John Henry Grayson**

**Notes: Orphaned at age 9, taken in by Bruce Wayne (a.k.a Batman), acrobat, messes with the english language; often called 'slaughtering it', refuses to be called side-kick, mathlete, the last Flying Grayson. **

"It's very… detailed," Superman muttered absentmindedly.

Bruce's head snapped up in surprise, eyes widening. "Say that again."

"It's very detailed. What? What's wrong?" he questioned, noticing the surprised and shocked look on the mans face. Wonder Woman glanced between the two, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What?"

"It's detailed," Bruce said, looking over the rest of the file. "Why would it be so detailed if they only got him seven months ago? How would they know it's called 'slaughtering the english language' and what he refuses to be called? They've been planning this way before this seven months. Something's wrong…" he muttered, his voice fading at the looks of the two heroes behind him.

"So, you're saying-"

"I'm saying; they've been planning this for a long time. They've been planning to capture him way before he was even with me."

* * *

"-_It has been reported that Richard Grayson is not even __in__ Ireland. He hasn't been seen in the last seven months, when he was believed to have been sent to a boarding school there. There has been no news or letters going to and from Ireland, the Irish Postal services had reported none of the sort. We have come to the conclusion that he was kidnapped and has been missing for the past seven months, instead of being in a Boarding School, which is what we in Gotham, were told. _

_"All of the most prestigious schools have reported that he is not there. We have tried to contact Mr. Wayne, but the calls have been ignored. What is going on? When was Mr. Wayne planning on telling us? What will the GCPD do about this discovery?_

_"Where is Richard Grayson?" _

Barbra shut off her TV and leaned back into her couch, sighing deeply as tears came to her eyes. She swept bright red hair from her blue eyes, squeezing them shut as tears flooded them. Her best friend was gone and she had thought nothing of it. She had gotten no letters, emails, phone calls; nothing. He just disappeared off the map. Maybe, she had originally thought, the school had banned all outside contact. But even so, Dick was stubborn and he would have found a way to contact his best friend.

"Barb, I'm going to the station. You'll be alright? There's food in the fridge," Jim Gordon said, pulling on his tan trench coat over his white dress suit shirt. His glasses shifted slightly, falling down his nose as he stared at his daughter. Barbra Gordon sighed deeply but nodded. The news had taken an effect on her, having been on all the news stations this in the past two days. Jim had thought it strange that Dick hadn't contacted her, those two were practically inseparably; despite the age difference. Him being thirteen and she being fifteen. Besides, Dick was smart for his age and fit in better with the older kids; not that they accepted the "circus freak".

Barbra had come home fuming one day, slamming the door behind her. Some kids had made fun of Dick and then bashed his parents. He had never seen his daughter so angry and mad.

"Barb? Did you hear-"

"I heard you," she replied and then looked up, "It's just. He's kidnapped. I mean, I know he was kidnapped before and held ransom and crap. But, a fudgin' seven months, at least, if the news is true." She sighed deeply and wiped a tear from her eyes.

"Alright, bye Barbra. See you later sweetie," he leaned over and kissed her head. She smiled up at him weakly and watched as he left, closing the door softly behind him.

She saw Dick as a little brother. It was funny, really, because when they had met, she had completely insulted him. She had been ten years old and he was eight, having just come to live with Bruce. She met him when her father took her to a police event and a few rich Gothamites had been invited as well. Of course, Bruce Wayne had to take his young ward.

She remembered bumping into the boy, surprise on both their faces. When she saw his face, she was slightly surprised. "You're Richard Grayson!"

He smiled weakly and nodded, helping himself up. "Yeah-"

"You're that orphan kid!" she continued, not realizing what she had blurted out until it was to late. His eyes widened and he took a surprised step back, mouth agape. Pain raged in his eyes but then anger replaced it and his hands balled up into fists.

"Yeah, _that_ orphan kid…" he muttered bitterly.

The memory faded into the black and Barbra closed her eyes, remembering the small eight year old boy with the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. He was probably the most kindest person she had ever met, so energetic, kind, smart. He was like her little brother.

And her little brother was missing.

* * *

Artemis shifted nervously, glancing at Bette; finally taking the girl's actions into her viewpoint.

Bette had been trying to get her attention all through AP History class, first by waving her hands when the teacher wasn't looking and then consorting to whispering at Artemis. She kept jabbing her finger at Barbra, one of the three friends Artemis had made at Gotham Academy.

"What?" Artemis hissed, leaning forward in her chair and to the right. Bette grinned triumphantly, straightening in her seat but then slouched over, looking over at Barbra.

"Did you hear? The news reported that Dick Grayson was never in Ireland; he was kidnapped! Babs looked like he was murdered grotesquely!" Bette whispered back, her voice sliding over the words uncomfortably and quickly. Artemis nodded, glancing at her friend worriedly. Barbra was leaning over in her chair, eyes red from obvious crying.

Artemis had seen the news last night as well. Disgustingly, she had turned it off but so made mad that the news teams had found out. And screw Ireland too. If it hadn't been for those prestigious schools over there, snitching about Dick, they wouldn't be in the mess. Vaguely, she wondered what Batman thought about this.

"Yeah, you worried?" Artemis replied, straighten back in her seat as the teacher turned around and glanced at the class with narrowed, watchful eyes; then promptly turning back to the chalkboard, continuing to write about the battle statistics of The Battle of Antietam.

"Of course!" Bette said, a little to loudly for Artemis's liking, but no one took notice. They were either on their phones of sleeping, then again; there was the occasional nerd who would pay attention and then snitch on those who disturbed them. Bette continued, slightly more quietly, "Aren't you! I mean, he was a good friend and now it's reported that he's actually been missing these past seven months! Imagine how Babs is feeling! He-"

"Bette Kane!" the teachers nasal voice rang through the class, causing everyone's head to snap up, never mind the phones or sleep. "Do you want to share what you and Miss Crock are talking about. I'm sure I'd entertain the class as much it entertains you," Mrs. Yerkes, snapped, her straight nose pointing up in the air. Bette and Artemis glanced at each other and then at Barbra, who hadn't even looked up to see what had caused their teacher to snap at them.

Bette swallowed, hoping Barbra would forgive her for bringing it up, "Uh, we were talking about Dick… it… it was on the news." Her head hung when Barbra's head snapped up with despair. Mrs. Yerkes looked slightly surprised, her head pulling back in slight surprise. Then she straightened and smoothed out her long skirt. Her head wasn't so high up anymore and her eyes seemed to soften as she realized who, exactly, the two girls were. They were two of Dick's closest friends, it was only natural for them to be worried.

"Er, perhaps we should continue with the lesson. Derek, can you tell me exactly which army moved over the river in the battle?"

Both girls let out sighs of relief.

But the worry still hung in the door.

* * *

**Day 1 Week 1 of healing: **

"Richard?" Bruce walked in, closing the Med Bay door behind him quietly. Richard looked up, his blue eyes feigned surprise but it quickly faded away. He was curled up in a ball, eyes downcast on the floor. He looked lonely, and Bruce couldn't understand why. Wouldn't he have gotten used to the loneliness in the facility? Maybe, and Bruce couldn't understand why he didn't think of this before, since people had been coming, Dick had gotten used to being around other people, which was good. But when they left, he probably felt he was back at the facility and this whole thing was a dream. He'd have to move Dick from here to an actual room.

"Yes, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce winced but didn't say anything as he slid over to the bed Dick was curled up on. His eyes conveyed the usual worry and Dick had even gotten used to seeing it in the man's eyes. They sat there in silence for a few moments, soaking it in until the tension was all that was left. Dick squirmed uncomfortably as he felt Bruce's gaze on him and looked anywhere else but the man before him.

"How are you?"

Dick almost didn't answer, mostly because he wasn't used to not being told he could talk. He opened his mouth, his brows furrowing as he tried to find the words to use. Unsure, he merely shrugged; an answer so foreign to him he almost felt weird doing it. But his shoulders went with the motion and he ignored the relaxed feeling that overcame him in the instant. It felt… normal.

Bruce seemed surprised by this action but smiled when he realized that it was an in verbal answer that Dick always used to do when he didn't know what to say. Did that perhaps mean he was getting back to his usual self? Or had it just been a whim that his body told him to do. Maybe being in the familiar environment was bringing back old actions.

"Well, do you mind if I-"

"Can you tell me about them?"

Bruce stopped a moment, slightly confused but he knew what Dick was talking about. "About who?"

"My parents."

Bruce nodded slowly, not sure what he was doing. He never met Dick's parents, all he saw was that they were killed and they were some of the nicest people that probably ever existed. He only knew this from what Dick had told them when he was younger.

Bruce moved over and sat on the bed next to Dick. Suddenly, he felt Dick curl up next to, leaning against his side. Bruce looked down, a small smiled creeping up onto his face. He slung his arm around Dick and he felt the boy tense up but then relax.

"They were probably the nicest people in the entire world, at least that's what you told me…"

* * *

**Day 2 Week 1 of Healing: **

"We brought you some food," Flash said, zipping in with Green Lantern behind him. GL Smiled nervously behind the speedster, quietly taking the way the boy looked. He was curled up once more in the bed, arms tightly holding his knees to his chest. His blue eyes devoid of any emotion; much like the white lenses in Batman's cowl. Sadly enough, that was what John compared them too.

Dick looked up and nodded. Flash smiled weakly at the boy and set the food down on the bed next to him. Taking a step back, he clasped his hands behind his back. Green Lantern was standing in the back, watching the boy with wary eyes. He, along with the rest of the founders, had been so worried. When he found out what happened to Dick, he had been so… angry about the fact that the team hadn't taken extra precautions. Sure, Dick was the most experienced but he was also the youngest of them.

It wasn't like he could really blame the team for what happened. They were only teens and truly couldn't think about everything that might happen. Still, it would have been a good idea, a _great _idea, to leave Kid Flash with Robin, mostly because if the bomb's timer began to rapidly fall, the young speedster could easily get both of the out of there.

"Thank you, Mr. Flash, sir," Dick muttered, looking up at Flash with through small eyes. Flash nodded again and then awkwardly stepped out the room, leaving Green Lantern with the boy. Dick glanced up at him and gave a small smile, taking the small sandwich that Flash had made him. It grew awkward quickly and GL wished that he could slip out too. But he had to keep watch on the boy. He was traumatized, whatever had happened to him. Batman had immediately taken the file back to the Batcave after they worked with Dick and tried to talk to him. But, whatever was in that file, it bothered the man. Bats had looked even more emotionless, maybe even a bit angered. Wonder Woman had seemed horrified and furious, having gone to the Watchtower's training room to beat up a few robots. Superman had simply sighed when questioned and looked out into space. He didn't imply that anything bothered him, but you could see it in his eyes. Superman, Clark Kent, was worried and ashamed.

"You know how I first met you?" Green Lantern asked suddenly, the memory suddenly flooding his mind, looking at Dick with a sudden sense of protection overcoming him toward the boy. Dick shook his head, curious now, as Green Lantern continued.

"Well, I was in the Watchtower on Monitor Duty…"

* * *

**Day 3 Week 1 of Healing: **

Dick was thinking.

Really, it was nothing in particular, his thoughts just merely wandered around. He thought about Bruce, and what the man had told them about his parents. He thought about Green Lantern and how they had met each other, he had actually laughed at the story. This concept, being so foreign to him, completely took Dick by surprise, causing him to freeze from shock. Green Lantern, noticing the change, had asked him if everything was alright. Dick had responded by nodding his head, all the while staring at the floor; thinking of the sound of his laughter.

Surprisingly enough, it didn't bother him. At the facility, the smallest of mistakes were pointed out and punished. Laughing would ultimately prove that you were a faulty subject, therefore dooming you to being ended. One girl had laughed at a scientist, a crazy sound that echoed of the walls of the halls in such away that gave him nightmares for a week. Her screams were bloodcurdling and had caused him to close his eyes tight and huddle in the corner of the room, as if perhaps something would come snarling into his room horrifically.

Laughing had proved to him that this was place was safe. This place, he wouldn't get punished. He knew that in this place, he could stay here and not worry about horrific experiments, not worry about being "punished" or about being treated brutally. He knew he could trust these people to care for him, to heal him. He felt more whole, felt like these people really cared for him. He didn't feel so alone…

No. He wasn't alone.

* * *

**Day 4 Week 1 of Healing: **

"There's something I don't quite understand," Wonder Woman muttered, standing outside the door with her arms crossed in front of her. She and Batman were standing outside of Dick's door by Med Bay, waiting a few moments to go in. Wonder Woman's chin was tilted up defiantly, her eyes narrowed in a steely glare as she stared at the man before her. Everything in Man's World often gave her unnerving thoughts, especially with all the technology they seemed to have and use to their advantage. She, at first, did not respect Batman. As he was a man and didn't have any special power at all, much like the rest of the League, and therefore didn't think him worthy. She had found out soon enough, however, that he was a worthy warrior.

"And what, may I ask, is that?" Batman questioned, his voice a deep octave; sounding dark and more like a growl than a man's voice. Diana resisted to roll her eyes over the dramatic attitude of her friend. He always was one for dramatic entrances and actions and, honestly, yes; they were dramatic, but often caused the Princess to roll her eyes in slight annoyance.

"Why Dick? Why not someone from the league? Or another partner? Why Robin?"

Batman glanced at the door and gave a small sigh that was extremely hard for the woman to detect and then looked up at her through the white lenses. "Whoever did this, they were planning for it far before Dick was ever Robin. This is something big. His parent's dying had never been in the plan, _I _hadn't been in the plan. Dick was probably supposed to be taken at the age of six and since I took him in and they couldn't get to him, they kept tabs and figured it out. Then they took Dick and-"

"-de-aged him," Diana sighed, her shoulders slumping over slightly.

Batman nodded and sighed. "Come on, let's go see how he's doing."

The door opened and they found Dick sitting on the bed. He wasn't curled up on the bed, instead; he was sitting on the bed, reading a book. He was laughing to it and hadn't noticed the door open. They both smiled subconsciously at his small twinkling laugh. He didn't look so along. Sure, his smile had yet to reach his eyes but it was a start.

It seemed he was finally starting to heal.

* * *

**Last Day of Week 1: **

Dick lay down on the pillow in the room he had been moved to.

It was comfortable and not like the white-washed rooms of the facility. There was an actual bed, not one made of iron and nailed to the floor. The covers were a green color and the pillows were white. The walls were painted off grey, but it was better then the white. The floor was a grey/brown stone and a dresser was in the corner of the room, but it wasn't filled with anything, not that he had anything to fill it with.

The room was cozy and he liked it, often just curling up in a ball and basking in it. The fact that he had… had a room made him smile in thought. Made him even giggle occasionally. Sometimes he had visitors, Flash and Wonder Woman and Bruce often visited him, chatting with him about mindless things.

Memories sometimes popped up in his head. Sometimes he saw bright colors and flashing lights and sometimes he saw Bruce and a red headed girl in his vision. The red head girl would laugh a lot, smiling at him with kind eyes. He could imagine himself telling a joke and the girl smirking playfully. He could see Bruce playing something with him. It involved… and orange ball?

He closed his eyes, basking in his coming memories.

As he fell asleep, he didn't notice something about him changing.

* * *

The man nervously moved down the hall, pushing his glasses up his long nose. The file folders in his arms were gripped tightly, but managed to come a tad loose, papers slipping out slightly. His white lab coat flew back behind him, his brown slacks brushed up against each other; causing them to make a slightly swooshing noise.

He slipped past the frosted glass door, pushing it open with a slight grunt. It moved effortlessly and he blushed furiously when he stumbled in, causing everyone to look at him from the conference table irritably and amused. He smiled nervously, making his way to the other side of the conference table and handing the filed toward the man sitting in the lead chair, fumbling with it slightly and then hurriedly rushing from the room.

The man at the beginning of the table sighed in deep disappointment. "Well," he began, "the meeting of Management begins now."

* * *

**Well, oh dear, what it happening to Dick? How is he changing? Did you guys like? I thought the part with babs was a ood peice to add, what 'bout you? Review and let me know! **

**73! WE HAVE 73 REVIEWS GUYS! THAT'S AMAZING! Could we make it up or past 85, because, that would truly be fantastic. Thank you all so much. **

**Dedicated to: Shadowtail43**


	7. Chapter 7: Beginning of week 2 and DNA

**Well…eh… hello there!**

**How are you? Long time no see eh? Heh heh. Uh… yeah *dodges pitchforks and swords and Batarangs* Sorry! Well, here's the chapter…congrats! So, total father son moment at the beginning to make up for it!**

**Okay, as for the League's numbers for the Zeta thingy; I have no clue what they are… I think.**

**Also, WARNING: PLEASE READ: I KNOW NO BIOLOGY; THEREFORE WHEN I TALK ABOUT DNA AND SUCH, I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THE CRAP I'M TALKING ABOUT. Thank you for understanding. But, I'm pretty sure my beta helped there... so yay! **

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

* * *

"Dick?"

Bruce sighed as no response came from behind the door. No, Dick wasn't ignoring him, the boy was sleeping, but Bruce… Bruce needed to see him. He missed him. He missed the boy that would wake up and come running downstairs just so he could make eggs for Alfred and himself. The way he would grin when he knew he did something wrong and Bruce would let him get away with it just for that grin. The way he would flip off a trapeze with the brightest smile on his face just because he felt like he was flying.

Bruce sighed again and turned away from the door. That was gone. But he knew he couldn't lose hope; Diana wouldn't allow it, and would just slap some sense into him, preferably on his face.

"Br… Bruce?"

Bruce froze when the whispered sigh came through the door. He spun back on his heels, placing a hand on the steel handle. But he didn't turn it. The realization came to him as he stared at the handle. He was afraid. He was afraid to go in there and be greeted with something that shouldn't have happened. He was afraid to go in that room and be greeted with reality.

He turned the handle and opened the door.

Dick was curled up in his blankets, the green sheets barely covering his ebony mop of hair. A pale arm was slung out, hanging off of the bed. Bruce smiled when he saw Dick sit up, but something wasn't right about him. His face seemed to have lost some of it's childish roundness. Not by much though, and he looked a little less tired.

"Dick?"

The boy lifted himself off the bed and smiled in Bruce's direction, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Bruce smiled and shook off the notion that something was wrong and walked over to sit on the bed. Surprisingly, the boy gave him a hug and grinned up at him with his small arms wrapped around his waist. Bruce stared down at the boy, confused, but gave him a side hug too, looking away and smiling at the grey stone walls.

"I don't know why… but it felt right," Dick muttered into Bruce's shirt, gripping the blue blazer with tight hands. It fell silent for a moment as time went on. Bruce stared off into space as he remembered how Dick used to do this all the time. When Dick was younger, Bruce would come into his room and would shake and tickle him until Dick was laughing. Dick would give him a hug and then thank him for taking him in…every morning. Eventually, though, the boy grew out of it and just ended up throwing a pillow at the door one day.

"It's fine, Dick," Bruce sighed, rubbing the boy on the back, rotating his hand in circles. He could almost here the boy smile. Bruce didn't know what had happened, but Dick seemed to know him better, almost like he knew exactly who Bruce was and how to please him.

A thought suddenly wandered into Bruce's mind that he wasn't so sure would go through with Clark. Of course, Bruce was Dick's parent/guardian, and therefore he would make the decisions, no matter what anyone told him. He didn't and wouldn't let anyone run his life. It was his life, and he chose what would happen.

He wanted to reintroduce Dick to the team.

"Dick, there's some people I want you to meet," Bruce blurted out, looking down at the boy. Dick stared up at him with knowing blue eyes. They conveyed slight worry at this statement, as if he disapproved. Bruce had seen this looked before, when he had first told Dick about charity events and places they would have to go to. Dick hadn't wanted to go, but he had met one of his best friends, Barbara Gordon, at an event, and look how that had turned out.

"But…" Dick opened his mouth but then closed it, frowning and looking away in obvious thought. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he moved away from Bruce with slightly reluctant movements. The older man frowned but kept his hand on Dick's back as a comfort, knowing the thought of meeting more new people scared the boy.

"You'll be fine."

"Are you… are you sure?" Dick asked, his head snapping back to look at Bruce. Bruce smiled at him kindly and nodded reassuringly. He knew that Dick would be scared, and probably very nervous, which was quite understandable.

"I'm positive, Dick. Come on, I think it'll go well," Bruce replied. He had formally introduced himself to the team as Bruce Wayne a few days ago. Since then, the man had felt uncomfortable around the team, and they him, mostly because they were used to the cold, dark man clad in cape and cowl. Lately, he had tended to appeared in his costume with cowl down. A day or two ago, Wally had asked 'Mr. Wayne' for any stories about Dick when he was younger. At first, he had been reluctant to reply, but found that telling small bits reminded him of his life before Batman and Robin, and before Dick had found out about Bruce being a vigilante in the night. He then went forward and shared a story or two, and even Superman and Wonder Woman joined in to listen.

"Really?" Bruce's attention was brought back by the small boy leaning on his knees when he heard the soft spoken word.

"Really."

* * *

Robert Dawes, head honcho of Management, scowled as his phone continued ringing insistently. He really didn't want to answer it, and new exactly who it was on the other line. His head fell into his hands as his willpower crumbled and he pressed the speaker button. He rubbed his eyes, having removed his glasses, and sighed deeply.

"Robert Dawes," he sighed, glancing at the phone.

"Have you gotten the subject back?" a deep, husky voice growled into the phone, echoing around the room. Mr. Dawes winced and gladly thanked whoever for the fact that the man on the other line couldn't see him.

"No, we're still working on it. We know where he is, though, and our forces are ready to-"

"No," the voice growled, cutting him off, "we have our own. Tell me where it is, and we'll get it. We can't afford losing the Weapon, especially to _them_."

Mr. Dawes nodded, then remembered that he couldn't be seen. "Of course," he said gruffly, "But remember, you're working for us, and that means you follow our orders. Management is far more important than your little 'Light', and the perfect weapon is something we _know _we can't afford to lose. We've been planning this for far to long to lose it now. We just need you to get it back, just as you got it for us in the first place, and no more."

He heard a snort and something in the background. It sounded like a female voice that wasn't too pleased, silky and smooth. "Got it," Sportsmaster growled, and then hung up the phone.

With a smirk playing at his lips, Mr. Dawes turned back around to face Gotham City, his gaze directed toward Wayne Enterprises. Little did he know that their perfect weapon wasn't working out they way they had planned him too.

* * *

"You think he's alright?" Wally asked sheepishly for the fifth time that week.

Zatanna sighed and closed her eyes, hoping to block the speedster out. Artemis silently groaned and let her head fall back onto the green couch, arms and legs crossed as her grey eyes stared down at the snowy TV that Connor had turned on, and seemed so interested in watching. M'gann smiled kindly at Wally while mixing some banana bread mix. Aqualad shrugged as he stood behind the couch, as his silver eyes glanced toward the red-headed boy with a frown on his face.

"I'm sure he is fine," the atlantean replied, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff of slight annoyance coming from his mouth. Wally had asked this question about five times everyday. They knew that he was worried for Dick but they couldn't bare the fact that he wasn't and thinking about him seemed to make them believe that he wasn't, in fact, alright.

Wally, pretending not to hear it, sighed and looked away from where he was standing by the Zeta-beams. Of course, everyone was worried about their little brother, having not seen him in a week since rescuing him from seven months of abuse and cruelty. They knew that Wally, Zatanna, and Bruce were probably the most worried about him, but at least Bruce, or Mr. Wayne, got to see him.

They heard stories about when he was younger, and had just come to live with his guardian. Some were funny, but sometimes Bruce couldn't help but stroll down memory lane and mention a sad time when Dick's nightmares were so bad that he would come into Bruce's room and have to sleep with him. It had made M'gann cry once. The way Bruce had described it had been so… detailed.

"I…yeah he is," Wally said, smiling slightly in the dark-skinned teen's direction.

Bruce walked in, at the moment Batman, cowl on and regal essence all but devouring the room with a dark blanket. His movements were fluid and soft, and they knew he had just spent time with Dick. He moved toward the computers and began typing furiously, ignoring the teams' stares on his caped back.

"Batman to Superman. I think he's ready," he said, whispering his words into the comm-link as he typed to the Watchtower. He needed to get the Man of Steel here, and he hope that Clark would bring a friend. He had found out what was different about Dick; the boy seemed to have aged by a year. When he had stood up, Bruce noticed that he was, if anything, an inch or so taller than before. Only the meticulous Bruce Wayne could have noticed this.

"Batman to Superman," he growled, eyes narrowing as he got no response.

"Superman to Batman. What _is _it?" came a short, abrupt reply. One could tell he was tired and slightly annoyed that someone had contacted him. In the back of his mind, Bruce wondered if he was at work. Well, not actually doing work but talking to Lois Lane. Batman scowled but then shook it off.

"I need you here. Bring Martian Manhunter. It's important."

"Why?"

"Just do it," he growled and then cutting the connection without really ending it. He turned back around to face the team. Their heads instantly snapped back to whatever they had been doing before. Batman let out an internal sigh as his eyes wandered around to each member of the Team. Artemis seemed relaxed, her head leaning against the back of the couch, yet her muscles were tense with angst and worry. Kid Flash seemed to be debating whether or not to go home, his eyes darting from the couch to the Zeta-beam transporter he was standing next to.

M'gann was baking (nothing new) and Superboy was watching static on the TV. Batman didn't know why the clone did that, but Robin had explained to him that that was what the boy thought the TV was supposed to show. Aqualad was standing by the couch, staring off toward the ground, lost in thought.

Bruce watched as they shifted and squirmed with him in the room, obviously uncomfortable. Dick was waiting in his room, seemingly desperate to get out and meet new people, but at the same time as wary as Bruce had been when Robin had gone out for the first time.

He remembered how excited the boy had been; jumping around like he was on a sugar rush, and he might as well have been. The way that excited spark had entered his eyes made the whole Batcave brighten up with a light that had made it's way into the darkness. They had stopped a mugging and a few robberies that night, nothing too big, and for that Bruce was grateful. He hadn't wanted Robin facing Joker or Scarecrow on his first night out.

_Recognize: Superman 01_

_Recognize: Martian Manhunter 07_

The men appeared in a yellow flash of light, causing the teens to jump in surprise and turn to watch them as they entered the room. Superman seemed slightly annoyed, but when he saw the worried look on Batman's face (as much as one can see of it from behind the cowl) his features softened as he realized what he was called for, or more correctly, who. Martian Manhunter turned to face the Bat and nodded.

"Good, glad you're here, I need you to see this," Batman said, leading them down the hall. The two leaguers followed, ignoring the Team as their eyes followed the Dark Knight, watching as they disappeared into the shadows. Much to their surprise, Batman led them to Med Bay.

"What are we doing?" Superman asked as he moved a bit faster to catch up to Batman. The door swooshed open as they entered the white walled room. Batman moved towards the computer and brought up a file, Robin's file. Well, the new one they had created for him. At the moment, it showed a DNA strand and Dick's profile.

"What? What is it?" Superman asked, moving forward with his arms crossed. Martian Manhunter said nothing as he stood stoically by the door.

"Remember how we found something on his DNA strand that we couldn't identify at first?"

Both aliens nodded.

"Well, it was the de-aging technology. It wasn't a beam, as we thought, but a serum that banded together with his DNA, degrading the aging hormones in the process, and therefore reducing his age.

"There was a side effect from whatever they used to subdued his memories. As his memories are recovered, the aging serum wears off a bit and he grows in age. Biologically, he's seven now, not six."

Superman blinked while Martian Manhunter frowned and stepped forward.

"Are you saying that the more memories he recovers-"

"The more he'll grow? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

The Martian nodded and stepped back toward the door, glancing at it with thoughtful red eyes. Superman seemed to brighten up a tiny bit and he looked toward Batman with a small smile on his face.

"But that's good, right? That means he'll get back to normal, right?"

Batman glanced at Superman with a frown. "You sound like Kid Flash. Basically, yes, he will. But the traumatic experiences will always be with him. He may never have the ability to trust other people without the suspicion of them doing something to him, or he may not be able to stay in medical wards without post-traumatic stress. Even someone merely grabbing his hand may result in a mental breakdown.

"We'll also have to monitor and correspond his memories with his growth. We can't have a ten-year-old mind in a seven-year-old body or the other way around."

Superman opened his mouth but then closed it again in indecision. He glanced at a wall, no doubt using his x-ray vision to watch the boy in his room. Batman didn't know what he was seeing, but vaguely wondered if Dick was staring at the door, waiting for Bruce to walk in and tell me that he was meeting someone new.

"How long will it take for him to… get back to his proper age?" Superman asked, glancing back at Batman with a slight frown, his brow furrowed as he thought of the worst.

"Who knows? It could take weeks, maybe months. Time we don't have to spare."

The Man of Steel nodded and sighed. It seemed lie whatever _they _had done to him was supposed to be permenant, but this minor side-effect was still there. But that's what it was, minor. Dick had a life to live; school, friends, the team, and his adopted family. Sometimes Clark wondered, who adopted who? Because it seemed Dick had taken Bruce in. He knew that the Dark Knight blamed himself for this, blamed himself for what his son was going through right now. And probably felt helpless to do so.

"I wanted him to meet the team today, but realized he isn't ready. He'll have to meet Alfred first, if anything, but-"

"What about his friend, Barbara Gordon? The one that is always at the Manor?"

Batman froze as he began to process this. If he had to tell Barbara Gordon, that meant he would have to tell her that he was Batman and Dick was Robin, and therefore meant someone who could spill the secret. He knew without a doubt Dick trusted the girl, almost as much as he trusted Bruce probably, and Bruce knew that Dick would want the ever famed 'Babs' to know.

"Perhaps," he mused, "it would help. I don't trust her, but Dick does."

"Will you do it?"

Batman turned to look at the Man of Steel. His cowled face showed nothing, but the way his shoulders sagged told Clark knew he was desperate for anything. If trusting a civilian with his darkest secret was what it took to help his son, he would do it.

"I don't know."

* * *

Dick sat staring at the door, waiting for Bruce to enter.

For about an hour (he could tell time now) the man had been gone, and with each passing minute Dick felt slightly neglected. He knew that the man, his adopted father, probably had other things to do, but he still felt a little lonely. He wanted to get out of his room. He felt… confined. He didn't like that feeling. He always had to move now. When he'd been at the facility he was always still, it had felt right. Besides, any wrong movement could be put him in danger, even if it was just twitching his fingers. But now he had to move; swing his legs, move his hands across the smooth stone, swivel his head from left to right. It felt good to move. It felt natural. He liked the feeling of moving, of being able to move around at will. He felt free, open, natural. He liked those feeling. At the facility, he'd felt captive, closed, and unnatural. Wrong, it had all felt wrong. He didn't know why the facility had wanted him, why they took him from Bruce. But they did, and he didn't like it one bit.

He had images of Bruce, and a man with grey hair and twinkling eyes, eating dinner together. It was awkward at first, or at least that was the feeling that matched the image, but soon they developed a homey feeling to them, and there was more talking, and smiling, and exchanging of how the day went. Dick was comforted by them, and they often came at night while he was in bed.

There was a clicking sound and his head snapped toward the door. As it slowly began to open, Dick's breath hitched as he saw a shadow cast along the room. It wasn't Bruce's, it was too small to be his, and it seemed afraid to come in, as one could see the shadow tremble slightly. Dick stared with wide blue eyes, waiting for whoever or _what_ever to come in.

Suddenly, the door snapped shut and the shadow was gone in an instant. The sound made Dick jump and fall slightly off the bed. There was a muted thump as his bare feet hit the floor, but other than that there was no sound inside the fairly large room. Dick let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding and hopped back on the bed with a small smile. He didn't know what the shadow had been, or perhaps who it had been, but it slipped his mind as the door began to open once more.

"Dick?" It was Bruce. The man slipped into the room, closing the door behind him with a small click. Dick jumped up and ran toward him, giving his legs a hug. Bruce fell back, slightly startled by the greeting but then smiled and peeled the boy from away form him. He leaned down, grasping him by his arms and gave Dick a smile. Dick smiled back up at him and removed himself from Bruce's hands.

"Bru…Bruce? I… wanted to know. Can I go out? Who was the shadow?"

Bruce frowned, and seemed at a loss for words. He stood up, and his looming presence seemed to slightly intimidate Dick as boy took a step back. Bruce didn't notice as he stared in thought, thinking of the question and about how close Dick had been to seeing Wally come through that door.

"Well, you're coming out soon. The shadow was… a friend, don't mind worry about it, alright?" Bruce said, running a hand through his hair and letting out a deep sigh. Dick stared at him for a few moments and then nodded, letting the shadow slip into the back of his mind. He clasped his hands behind his back and stretched his head as far back as he could to get a full view of Bruce Wayne, his adopted father.

"So, I'm going out soon?"

"Soon."

"When?"

"Now, there's someone I want you to meet."

* * *

**Well, I think it's pretty obvious who it is. Starts with an **_**A…**_

**Anyway, I have a beta now! Yay! So, beta'd by: ShadowCatAlex. Thank you a bunch. She did a fantastic job and I seriously wouldn't have thought of those changes that were made! THANK YOU! **

**PLEASE READ: So, two questions: 1.) Should I make this a sad ending? My beta and I discussed this and sort of agreed on a sad ending. But it's also up to you; personally, I want a sad ending, mostly because I haven't done one yet, they've (my stories) all been relatively happy.**

**2.) Second question: Were you surprised when you read about Sportsmaster? Should good 'ole batsy tell Barbra Gordon? **

**Okay, that was three questions, but still. :D Answer them? **


	8. Chapter 8: Finding out

**Well… hi… **

**Your reactions were good. I've decided to do alternate endings. I'll have a sad ending and then I'll have happy and then in-between? This good enough? You can just choose whatever! **

**Unbeta'd. Had to get this out there, sorry!**

**A friend says I should do a Star Wars fic; what do you think? I said no at first… **

* * *

**Chapter ?:**

* * *

Barbra shifted slightly in her chair.

Flipping red hair out of her eyes she glanced at Artemis, who hadn't looked at her all morning. Heck, she only looked at Barbra when she _had _to. Ever since it had been brought up that Dick had been kidnapped Artemis acted a little… awkward was it? Yeah. Awkward. Like she knew something about it. Of course, Barbra knew she couldn't be apart of it. Artemis was like her, a girl who lived in Gotham. Simple.

But she still felt wary about her. A little… weirded out. No one, not even the teachers, brought up Dick Grayson. Sure, the older and bigger kids who didn't like him and Babs would mention him every time she passed them. Tears would form in her eyes and she would hurry up her steps. Bette and Artie would comfort her and tell her they, the police, would find him. Except… Artemis didn't. She'd look away with a guilty look on her face. But other than that, he was rarely mentioned. The news would give weekly updates on the search.

On the Artemis conundrum, it wasn't hard to tell _something _was up.

"Miss Gordon, your grandfather is here to pick you up," her teachers voice cut through her thoughts.

Babs's head snapped up and she gave her teacher a curious look. Grandfather? She'd never met her grandfather; to put it in Batman worthy bluntness, he was dead. So… wait, why would Alfred be picking her up? She and Dick were so close they called each other siblings and made Alfred their grandfather-who-made-freaking-awesome-cookies… and scones. Why would he be here unless… did they have news on Dick?

She jumped and snatched her books from her desk. "Well then, I better not keep grandpa waiting, now should I? Uh, hehe, bye!" And with that she rushed from the room before her teacher could question her.

She raced down the halls as fast as she could but slow enough so it couldn't be considered running. The school was big on security as they had some of the most important peoples kids in one place. Most of those kids could be ransomed for a billion dollars… especially Dick Grayson. Not Barbra Gordon though, she was here on scholarship and her dad was the Commissioner. She had once told Dick she was worth nothing to kidnappers. He shot her an incredulous look and replied, "Are you kidding me! Your smile alone is worth more than any of those jerks in the school!" To say the least, her day had brightened from there.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed when she entered the office. She ran and gave Alfred a hug, surprising the man and then grinned up at him.

"This is your grandfather, Miss Gordon?" the secretary asked, glancing between the two in disbelief.

"Uh huh, worlds best gramps!"

"Well, uh, darling," Alfred really seemed to be struggling with the american-english accent, "Let's get going."

Barbra grinned and waved goodbye to the secretary. They left the office and exited the school. As they entered the courtyard an awkward silence settled between the two. Barbra hadn't seen Alfred in eight months. Yeah, it had been a month since the news report of his being reported missing. Each day dragged and each night was lonely, there was no one in ICQ to chat with. Honestly, it sucked. She remembered when she'd gone over to sleep the night at the Manor and they both had an overdose of sugar. She had the song 'This is the song that never ends' stuck in her head for a week after that; but that was to be seen off because they sung it while acting high all through the Manor.

Suddenly, springing on the chance to say something, she turned to Alfred, "Is this about Dick?"

The older man winced and looked down at her with kind eyes. Unsure of what to say, she went on. "I mean, it's been a while and I'm kinda worried. Okay, understatement of the year; I'm a lot worried but I mean, who wouldn't be, you know? I'm pretty sure he's worried… and scared… and a little sad… I mean he's kidnapped you know?" she was close to tears now, "I know I would be-"

"Yes, Miss Gordon, this is about Master Richard… Master Bruce has something to tell you," he replied, hurriedly interrupting her before she burst out in tears. She looked it too; blue eyes were red rimmed and she continuously rubbed them with her left hand.

"Oh… did you find him? Is he okay? Is he hurt? Did you find him?"

Alfred let out an audible sigh over the wind and opened the door for the blubbering, nervous girl and closed it once she'd gotten in. Turning toward the front door of the limo he opened it and sat in, trying to ignore her in the back.

As they exited the parking space and entered Gotham traffic she quieted down and finger the grey skirt that she wore, looking out the window with a blank look on her face. Occasionally she would sniff and look down, as if being in the limo was hard enough, but then return to staring at the buildings when they passed.

Eventually they came to the more… richer area of Gotham; the houses became larger and more elegant and the people were dressed like supermodels. Cars were more expensive and gardens were worth a fortune. Wayne Manor was on the outskirts of Gotham, more inland and in the opposite direction of Gotham Bay. It was large, elegant, and beautiful. It was also dark, looming, and had the essence of secrecy.

Babs loved it.

The Manor had a certain feel to it that made you believe you were in old England. Dick had once told her that it was modeled after some manor in England but she never really paid attention when he went all braniac on her; which was often. Much to often but it was funny when he talked about collateral dohikies and parallel what-not's and attempted to get her to understand. The routine was nod-and-smile.

As they entered the drive, moving back the gated entryway, Barbra couldn't help but feel a bit giddy as they wove up the long drive toward the Manor. Alfred had been quiet most of the ride, stealing glances toward her in the utmost horrible fashion. Normally the man's manners were impeccable but he was obviously nervous of something, his demeanor even seemed to be one of disapproval.

The car stopped and she waited for him to open the door. Once doing so she bounded up toward the oak doors, it was basically her second home, and waited for them to be graciously opened. Now, the giddy feeling had grown considerably and she was practically bouncing off the marble steps with high expectations of seeing Dick Grayson, her best friend, beyond those doors. Sure, he might've been in a hospital bed, IV's stuck in arms, bandages across his chest; but it would have been seeing him nonetheless.

Alfred opened the door and pushed it open with small effort. It moved soundlessly over the marble floors and the girl dashed in. Alas, her wishes were ill-fated and she wasn't even greeted with a healthy Richard beyond the doors. Not even his adoptive father, Bruce Wayne, was there. Alfred moved past her and put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her toward Bruce's forbidden study. The girl cast the butler a glance but didn't protest when he made her sit down.

"Mistress Barbra, please wait here."

Of course, the anticipation was killing her. Her blue eyes darted meticulously around the room, fascinated by the art work on the walls she had a drive to go and get a closer look but yet she remained seated in the large velvet chairs of Mr. Wayne study.

"Barbra, good to see you again; been a while, hasn't it?" Mr. Wayne, billionaire playboy of Gotham, appeared in front of her. The smiled at her practically second father but it was a wary smile.

"Hey, Mr. Wayne. Yeah… it is but, is there any news on Dick? Is that why you called me here for?"

Bruce Wayne frowned and looked away, taking a seat in the big chair behind the oak desk that was situated in front of Babs. The look in her eyes told her that he really didn't want to do something… what was it?

"Something like that," he began, "but… listen; what I am about to tell you is really important and you can't repeat to anybody. I seriously hope I can trust you with this."

Barbra had no idea the level of secrecy this required and didn't know truly important it was until she thought back on it a few years on. A few years later, when she was talking with… an old friend about this experience she recalled how she hadn't known what it meant until it finally caught up with her.

"Can I trust you?"

She had a feeling it had to do with Dick… and Bruce at the same time. From the tone of his voice she could tell the man was risking a lot, even if she didn't know what yet.

"Of course."

"Barbra, when I'm telling you this… I mean it in the utmost seriousness-"

She nodded, blue eyes conveying curiosity.

"-I'm Batman."

She deadpanned. Now _that_ she hadn't been expecting. Sure, maybe 'we found 'em!' but not 'I'm Batman'. She knew by his tone that he was serious, _Batman _serious. Sure, when she'd gone with her dad on take your child(ren) to work day she'd gotten to be five feet away from he and Robin.

_Robin_.

That means… he was Robin and he didn't even tell her.

* * *

Wally paced the cave, going slightly faster than the average human.

Dick was curled up in M'gann's lap; the Martian girl stroked the boy's ebony hair, smiling down at him with a kind smile. Yet her eyes conveyed anger and sadness. About a week ago, Batman had introduced Dick to the team. To say the least, it went well. Yeah, understatement of the year…

_Wally stood up as Batman entered the living room. Artemis placed a hand on his shoulder but he shrugged her off and moved forward. "When are we going to see him? It's been three weeks? We've had no news; nothing!" _

_"Today." _

_"We're his friends! His family- wait… did you just say yes?" _

_"Yes." _

_Everyone stood up and walked over, shocked from what Batman just said. Were they really going to see their little brother? It had been three weeks since Artemis had run toward them, burns, bruises, scratches on her face, legs and arms, with a small, tortured boy in her arms. She had been crying and looked at Wally with in incredulous look in her face when he told her off. _

_"Where… is he?" _

_"A moment. Now remember, he doesn't remember you. He'll be frightened and scared. Please, don't crowd him." _

_They nodded and sent wary glances toward the door. Zatanna looked giddy at the thought and seemed to be anxious to see the boy. Batman let out a small sigh and turned around, walking down the hall. Superman and Wonder Woman both walked out and stood by the hall entryway awkwardly as they waited. _

_Eventually, Batman came out. His arms were by his side but if you listened quietly enough you could here silent, windless footsteps. He walked out and then turned around, kneeling down to talk to someone. Superman and Superboy both looked away awkwardly. _

_Then Batman stood up and nudged something behind him. A little boy with ebony hair and bright blue eyes with tan skin peeked out behind his cape. He looked nervous and scared. He stared at M'gann with wide eyes and she sent him a comforting smile. He stared at her for a few more minutes and then gave a small sheepish smile back. _

_"I know you…" he whispered and then scrunched up his nose in concentration. Everyone's eyes flickered toward Batman and he stared down at Dick with wide eyes. _

_"Dick… what do you mean?" _

_"I…" he glanced at the team uncomfortably, "see… people… in the dreams. Some… sometimes it's not a dream. It's red and there is two people… it's my mommy and daddy, isn't it?" _

_Batman seemed to shift uncomfortably but then he nodded and looked up toward Superman, who nodded and flew away. Dick stared at the floor and sniffled, wiping a tear from his face. Suddenly, M'gann moved forward and gave him a hug. Dick stiffened and began to breathe heavily but the Martian's comforting demeanor seemed to roll off her and flow into him. He relaxed and layed his head against her neck. She smiled and sat on the floor. _

_Batman looked down and then glared at Kaldur, who took an automatic step back. "Watch him; make sure nothing happens." _

_The atlantean nodded and glanced at M'gann and Dick with a small smile grazing his features. "Come on, we have work to do." _

Wally sighed and moved to the couch. He sat down and smiled at his friend. It seemed that Dick knew who they were, if anything. He knew that Wally was, well, Wally and hadn't needed the speedster to introduce himself. He knew Artemis and Zatanna as friends and Connor wasn't someone to mess with and Aqualad was someone he could trust. He had come to like M'gann a lot and often asked her to tell him a story.

Yesterday he'd just "turned" nine. With each new revelation and memory he gained it seemed he grew a year. He still tensed when one of the team touched him and stiffened when someone moved to close to him and seemed to steer away from any medical supplies. Whenever Batman needed a sample of blood they would have to knock him out. They hadn't come up with a solution to his de-aging problem but Batman didn't want to wait for Dick to "grow up".

"Wally…" a murmured voice said next to him. Wally looked over and smiled as Dick rolled over in M'gann's lap. The girl smiled and sighed, glancing at Wally with a wary look on her face.

"You have to admit, it's cute," the Martian inclined, sending Wally a pointed look. The ginger looked down and attempted to remain impassive about the whole deal. Of course, M'gann had been all over him. Saying he was the most adorable thing in the world. Heck, she even got Artemis in on the whole ordeal. Artemis had admitted it out loud that she did think Dick was cute.

"Oh, come on-"

With the look M'gann was giving him he figured he better agree and nodded his head whilst smiling like the Joker. The green girl grinned and turned back toward Dick, who had rolled over on his side.

"I just want him back to normal."

"I do too Wally… but I don't know. I kinda like him like this," her hazel eyes met Wally's incredulous green ones. She knew she'd hit a sore point with that one and glanced away, reluctantly pulling her hand back from stroking Dick's head.

"You can't be serious! You're serious! M'gann, we need him back to normal! You know that! He has…family… sort of and other friends. We need out hacker back-"

"That's just it Wally," M'gann broke in, turning to stare at him with a hard look.

"That's all he is! All he was! Batman's protégé, the hacker, the ninja, the kid that you could never find. But don't you see! He's just thirteen! Or was… but either way! He'll come back and join the team once… once this is all over and he'll be getting hurt. He'll still be on line with death."

With that she stood up, carefully laying Dick down on a pillow that had rested her other arm. Wally sighed and looked away.

"And he was still my best friend…" Wally sighed and looked away toward the Zeta-beams. He shook his head, trying to clear it and then began to slowly, much to slow for a speedster, toward them.

And then that was when the alarms went off.

* * *

Barbra stared at Bruce Wayne as her mind reeled over what had just been revealed to her.

"You're Batman… all the bruises he got, scratches, marks'… I just thought they were from his acrobatics. All this time… Joker, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Killer Crock… I didn't know… How could I not see it?" she whispered this to herself, yet knew that Mr. Wayne could hear her contemplating. Somehow, this bothered her. She felt like she'd been lied too but her father. Sure, sometimes he did that just to protect her. Tell her to stay safe and she would generally to the opposite. Just say monkey bars and her dad would go off about this one time in third grade.

Was that what Dick was doing? To protect her? If he mean to protect her then that meant he should train her. That way she could protect herself and not look like coward when they had to run and hide.

But…

"So, you found him?" she asked, voice shaky and quiet.

"Yes… but you see, he's undergone some changes… look. I know I'm going to regret this later… but-"

"What do you mean changes?"

Bruce sighed and looked straight at her, his eyes boring into hers relentlessly. "They physically changed him… he's a nine year old right now… with no, or barely, any memory."

His voice faded off and she frowned. She didn't know the whole story of how things were going on. She didn't know if she wanted too either. No memory. That meant he didn't know who she was. He was a nine year old now… how did that work? In order to do that one would have to have a freaking awesome medical degree. Was he kidnapped and taken to a science facility?

She turned to stare at him full force. "You're going to tell me everything. I don't care if it makes me cry, just tell me."

He opened his mouth the reply but never got anything out. A sharp ringing noise cut through the air, throwing both of the rooms occupants off. Mr. Wayne pressed the button on his phone and once again, before he cold say anything something, or someone, interrupted.

"Someone broke into the mountain… Dick's gone."

* * *

**This sucked… Review? If any of you are still there…**


	9. Chapter 9: Tough Enough

**:(**

**Hi. **

**Goes to the song Tough Enough by Vanilla Ninja.**

**Last chapter. I never said the endings would happen in this fic. *smiles* **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. **

**This may seem abrupt, but trust me. This was planned from the beginning. Lol. **

* * *

Dick's eyes fluttered open.

He glanced around, eyes nervously dancing from one thing to the next. White. It was that color again. The color of no emotion, the one that had created nightmares for him, was back. The one that hurt the most. He shifted, yet found he was strapped once more to a medical table. Panic rose in his chest and his cobalt eyes widened in panic. Not again. He struggled and bolts of electricity danced up and down his arms; he screamed. Screamed bloody murder.

It hurt his ears.

It pained his throat.

It caused a headache.

It hurt.

But he had to toughen up.

Because he was tough enough.

* * *

Superman rubbed his temples. It ached him to say those words to Bruce. But it had to be done. Heck, had he not done it and waited for Bruce to come to the mountain he would have had a Kryptonite necklace around his neck so fast the Flash would have been proud. When he had gotten the distress signal from Kid Flash, he had flown straight from the Daily Planet to the mountain. Lois had asked why he looked so horrified when he set down the phone and Jimmy had joked about something stupid. He honestly hadn't heard the photographer over the roaring in her ears.

He stood there next to Wonder Woman, who was cursing under her breath in Greek as she looked around the cave. One wall had been completely blasted out, debris lay strewn on the floor and the ground was left charred from the blast. Flash, being a forensic scientist, was inspecting the scene. He was out of his costume however and was in his civilian clothes… well, civilian work clothes. He had on rubber gloves and was seemingly troubled by the scene, as any rational person would be. But he did not speak, nor did he say anything as he shook his head toward Superman and Wonder Woman.

Nothing.

The only clue being the blast itself.

The children, which was how the looked at the moment, were in the far corner of the main room of the cave. Artemis was sobbing (quite unlike her) into Wally's shoulder, he himself looked quite upset, but everyone knew he was holding his anger in. Connor just stood there with his arms crossed and M'gann was silently crying as well. Kaldur simply stood there with a poker face, Zatanna gripping his shoulder while crying as well. Black Canary stood by them awkwardly, unsure of what to do. She watched Barry Allen shake his head and her shoulders slumped. Red Tornado stood next to her. Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter were on there way. Hawk Woman was flying around the surrounding area, looking for anything that may be suspicious. So far, her Comm. Link was silent.

Superman shook his head, closing his eyes and sighing.

_Recognize Batman 02 _

_Recognize Guest Barbra Gordon_

Superman's head snapped up. Batman… was bringing… a civilian? Barry walked over and Superman could guess that he felt obligated too; one, to not upset the silence that came over the cave and two because he most likely didn't want to run in his regular clothes. It felt weird to do so, Clark knew how he felt.

"Great, just what we need, another crying kid," Barry commented, sighing deeply and shaking his head. Clark snorted, but knew that Barry was simply tired. They all were, that was just it. When your nephew gets kidnapped… again, you get a bit tired, and angry. But mostly tired.

Batman walked stoically forward, a red headed girl followed closely behind him. She wore a Gotham Academy Uniform. Her lush red hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail and her blue eyes were rimmed with tears. One hand gripped the side of her grey skirt and the other was folded over her chest. Her right hand tucked under her left arm. Her eyes were downcast, yet when they stopped at Superman, she looked up with a small smile toward him. Even looking so, being left in the dark, getting ready to break down, she was still polite. She was desperate to find something out. She, Barbra, had that air to her.

"What happened, exactly? Has the team said anything?" Batman asked his voice unnaturally calm and soft. Superman could guess that he was talking to Barbra when he called and he most likely had had to calm her down. Of course, he also knew that the man was scared; scared for his son and that he was angry; angry because he was taken for him. If they didn't find him, it could be for good. Gone for good.

Wonder Woman stepped forward. Her brown eyes locked with the endless and emotionless white of the cowl and she sighed. "Artemis and Wally are really the only ones. Wally called Superman and Clar- er, Superman here called me. The poor boy had to relive it and told us everything. None of them… where injured. Artemis said she was scared but they seemed to have toughened up. I think they're willing to go after Dick even without our permission," Diana explained, glancing toward them and tensing her muscles. It was obvious that the female Amazon warrior was getting ready for war. She was toughening up, just like they all had to.

* * *

He was back in that cell.

That white grey cell.

His cobalt eyes stared at the floor emotionlessly. But that was merely the outside; inside he was stirring. He was ready. He remembered everything. He was still in the nine year old body, but he was ready. He just had to wait, to be patient. He had to keep waiting. Good things come to those who wait… so he was going to wait.

He needed to be patient. He closed his eyes, his thoughts swirling in his head. He was tough enough. He just had to wait. That was the game. The angle. Everything was an angle. Don't trust. Be prepared.

Be tough.

0o0o0o0o0o

Barbra stood a few feet away from the team, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She had been angry, at first, to find out that Artemis was on the team, but then she didn't care. If Dick could trust her, so could she. She had to keep going and move forward. She stiffened when she saw the red headed boy, Wally, walk over. He looked uncomfortable. He should. They should have brought her in, not have left her in the dark.

"Uh, so… how are you?"

Barbra looked up toward the red head and she glared toward him. Was he seriously asking that question.

"Right, okay, stupid question-"

"Understatement of the year, Baywatch!" Artemis yelled toward him. Wally chuckled slightly, his green eyes twinkling with a sort of bright sadness. He sat down on the wall next to her, fiddling with a part of his blue button up shirt. The girl glanced over at him, crossing her legs and leaning forward.

"I mean… physically, I'm okay. Except for a few tears tracks on my cheeks," she chuckled and shook her head, pushing her red hair back, "but… I'm worried. I mean, come on! Why wouldn't I be? It's a really stupid question, no offence, but seriously. My friend is kidnapped, again, and I just found out that he dressed up in tights and ran around at night acting, no, not acting, he ran around at night as a superhero, risking his life! I'm blabbering, aren't I?"

Wally nodded, blushing slightly. Artemis vaguely wondered if all red heads were talkative.

"Slightly, yes, but I know what you mean… about the worried part. I go out in tights too, but that's beside the point. I know what you're feeling… I guess. But we have to toughen up. We gotta do this, for him."

The words echoed through the cave.

They were tough enough.

They had to be.

For him.

* * *

Dr. Anders walked down the halls. A few other scientists walked behind her. They held clip boards, each reading charts and stats and other things like medical details and experiment profiles.

Her stature was stiff and her posture was one of arrogance, and her face remained impassive as she thought about what lay ahead. Desperate times called for desperate measures… they had exploded into a mountain. It had been hollow, and worth it. They got R00012J back, and that was important. Everything involved him. He was the key to the world. The perfect little boy too. He listened. He was strong. He was young. And, as far as they knew, he knew nothing.

She chuckled slightly, her dark eyes narrowing dangerously as she thought about what would happen to the Justice Babies once she and Management took the world. Hey, she might even let in villains from another universe come in and help. She had seen them. Those other places. She marveled it; simply because it was marvelous. But, that was beside the point, that didn't matter.

She would continue project Paradox and everything would be fine. It would all work out for them. She had her contract with Management and they with Sportsmaster and Cheshire, it was fine.

There was no problem.

She continued down the hall and stopped at the steel door.

"Hand me the access card," she demanded, snapping her right arm out with the snap of her fingers. Another whitecoat quickly handed her a card and she slipped it into the access box and, entering the code, she walked into the cell; with that, a small grin grazed her lips.

* * *

Danger zone.

That's where he was.

He was in the danger zone.

When he watched her leave, he stared after her.

A burning in his arms.

Pitch black.

He was in the danger zone.

Toughen up.

Get out.

Are you strong enough?

Out of the danger zone.

Out of the dark.

Into the light.

Out of the dark.

Out of the Danger zone.

What you see is what you get.

Welcome to the danger zone.

* * *

Sweat ran down his face. His heart pounded as he ran. He could see the littlest details, the smallest things. They were all relative. But wasn't everything in life relative? Did all matter? Of course it did. Everything mattered; everything had it's place. Because it all mattered. Everything that happened mattered.

So why did this matter?

He jumped as he ran, pushing himself to faster. Guilt overrode him as he thought about it. Why did this happen? Why? Why not to someone else, why not to him? Wherever he went, wherever he ran, it was still there. That guilt. That worry. That pain of thinking of _"why"_.

Why did it matter?

Why did anything matter?

Did anyone have an answer?

Because, honestly, it seemed like no one did.

* * *

"Bruce, anything?"

Bruce looked up at Diana and shook his head. "When Barry said he found nothing, he meant it. Nothing. I have no idea how they did it. In and out within a minute," he admitted, sighing and rubbing his temples. The issue was, he was at a standstill. His son was gone again, most likely taken by the same organization, and he knew absolutely nothing. And the worst part was, Dick still hadn't regained all his memory. He still was unsure of who he was and where he belonged.

"I know… I am so angry. Hera is helping me restrain it, but I feel it," Diana growled, growling and cracking her knuckles. Superman walked in (they were in the Batcave) and stood by the Amazon warrior.

He sighed, sending an look toward Bruce before speaking, "We found something. It was written on a piece of rubble. Barry noticed it after we cleared everything out. Someone had taken the time to write _From Management_ on it. Did they actually write it or-"

"Was it planted?" Diana cut in, moving forward with a slap on the back toward Superman, who lurched forward slightly. The Kryptonian nodded in response, glancing upward as bats above him screeched and flew down.

Bruce frowned. "Is Flash bringing it? It must've been planted. What type of rock?"

"Obsidian, but it was covered in dust so Barry didn't notice it. It wasn't until he caught the dark glint."

"Meaning it came from anywhere there is a volcano," Diana cut in, frowning once more, "that could be anywhere."

"The Ring of Fire is the most common place to find it. You need water, because it cools rapidly. Anywhere there is a volcano on the west coast, check it out. Around it, in it, I don't care. We have to find him."

They just entered…

…the Danger Zone.

* * *

**Done. **

**Sorry for any mistakes guys! I will go back and fix them later! **

**So, the sequel will be called Danger Zone, look for it! **

**Review! **


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